EDWARDS'S GENUINE EDITION. 

« THE BOOK !" 

OR, THE 

PROCEEDINGS AND CORRESPONDENCE 

UPON THE SUBJECT OF THE 

INQUIRY 

INTO 

THE CONDUCT OF HER ROYAL HIGHNESS 

Zi)* ^tintttiti of Wtalrt, 

UNDER A COMMISSION APPOINTED BY 

THE KING 

IN THE YEAR 1806. 

FAITHFULLY COPIED FROM AUTHENTIC DOCUMENTS. 

__________ * 



TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, 



% $arratita of ttje detent €btx\t$ 

That have led to the Publication of the Original Document*. 

WITH 

A STATEMENT OF FACTS 

RELATIVE TO 

THE CHILD, 

Now under the Protection of Her Royal Highness 






SECOND EDITION. 



Honbon: 

PRINTED BY AND FOR RICHARD EDWARDS, 

CRANE COURT, FLEET STREET ; 
AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



1813. 






ADVERTISEMENT. 



THE publisher of the present Volume cannot 
but regret that circumstances, of an imperious 
nature, have rendered it absolutely necessary 
that the whole of the Documents upon the 
subject of the Inquiry into the Conduct of Her 
Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, 
should be submitted to the examination of the 
p «blic. 

This being the only means by which a fair and 
impartial judgment can be formed upon the "De- 
licate Investigation," — the publisher conceives 
that he is merely performing an act of justice in 
delivering to the world a genuine and unmutilated 
copy of the suppressed hook, as it was printed by 
him in the year 1807, under the direction of the 
late Mr. Perceval. 

Of the herd of spurious works on this subject, 
which are so industriously obtruded upon public 
notice, it is unnecessary to speak. The garbled 



( iv ) 

extracts, also, that have been given in the News- 
papers are but ill calculated to satisfy the public 
concerning; this highly important and interesting 
Inquiry. 

In addition to the documents printed in 1807, 
the present work will be found to contain a Mi- 
nute of Cabinet of January 25, 1807 ; a Minute of 
Council of April 21, in the same year; and a 
Letter from the Princess of Wales to the King, 
dated the 2nd of October, 1806. 

To this edition, exclusively, are added, A Nar- 
rative of the Recent Events, that have led to the 
publication of the " Book;" — and A Statement of 
Facts, relative to the Child now under the pro- 
tection of Her Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales; disclosing circumstances of great interest, 
which are exclusively in the possession of the 
publisher. 

Crane Court, Fleet Street, 
March 19, 1813. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

A NARRATIVE of Recent Events, ix 

RLPO H i or the Commissioners 3 

Letter from the Princess of Wales to His Majesty, 

dated August 12, 1806.... 10 

Note from th< Princess of Wales to the Lord Chan- 
cellor, (.died August 17, 1806 *. 15 

Letter from the Princess of Wales to His Majesty, 

dated August 17, «806 „\ IS 

Note from the Lord Chancellor to the Princess of 

Wales, dated August 20, 1806 19 

No^e fjom the Lord Chancellor to the Princess of 

Wales, dated August 24, 1S06 20 

Note from the Lord Chancellor to the Princess of 

Wales, dated August 29, 1806 21 

Note from die Princess of Wales to the Lord Chan- 
cellor, dated August 31,1 806 22 

Note from the Lord Chancellor to the Princess of 

Wales, dated September 2, 1 806 24 

Letter from the Princess of Wales to His Majesty, 

dated October 2, 1806 \ 24 

Deposition of Thomas Manby, Esq. dated the 22d 

of September, 1806 181 

Deposition of Thomas Lawrence, Esq. dated the 24th 

of September, 1806 182 

Deposition of Thomas Edmeades, dated September 

26, 1806, 184 

Memorandums of the Heads of Conversation be- 
tween Lord Moira, Mr. Lowten, and Mr. Ed- 
meades, on the 14th of May, 1806 187 

Deposition of Jonathan Partridge, sworn on the 25th 

of September, 1806 191 

Deposition of Philip Krackeler and Robert Eagle- 
stone, sworn on the 27th of September, 1806 .. 192 

Letter from the Princess of Wales to his Majesty, 

dated the 8th of Dec. 1806 194 



vi CONTENTS. 

Page 

Minute of Cabinet, January 25, 1807, 198 

Note from the Lord Chancellor to the Princess of 

Wales, dated January 28, 1807 200 

Note from His Majesty to the Princess of Wales . 201 

Letter from the Princess of Wales to His Majesty, 

dated January 49, 1807 203 

Note from His Majesty to the Princess of Wales, 

dated January 29, 1807 204 

Note from His Majesty to the Princess of Wales, 

dated February 10, 1807 : --- 204 

Letter from the Princess of Wales to His Majesty, 

dated February 12, 1807 205 

Letter from the Princess of Wales to His Majesty, 

dated February 16, 1807 206 

Letter from the Princess of Wales to His Majesty, 

dated March 5, 1807 243 

Letter from the Princess of Wales to His Majesty, 

dated October % 1806.-/ 245 

Minute of Council, dated April 21, 1807 246 



LIST OF THE DOCUMENTS 

STATED IN THE 

APPENDIXES. 



APPENDIX (A.) 

No. 

1. Warrant, or Commission, authorising the Inquiry, 

dated May 29, 1806 1 

2. Deposition of Charlotte Lady Douglas, sworn 

June 1, 1806 .... 2 

3. Deposition of Sir John Douglas, sworn on the 

6th of June, 1 806 8 

4. Deposition of Robert Bidgood, sworn on the 1st 

of June, 1806 - ... 9 

5. Deposition of William Cole, sworn on the 6th of 

June, 1806 . 11 



G 



CONTENTS. VU 

No. Page 

6. Deposition of Frances Lloyd, sworn on the 7th 

of June, 1806 , 13 

7. Deposition of Mary Ann Wilson, sworn June 7th, 

1806 15 

8. Deposition of Samuel Roberts, sworn on the 7th 

of June, 1806 16 

9. Deposition of Thomas Stikeman, sworn on the 

7th of June, 1806 17 

10. Deposition of John Sicard, sworn on the 7th of 

June, 1806 2Q 

1 1. Deposition of Charlotte Sander, sworn on the 7th 

of June, 1806 21 

12. Deposition of Sophia Austin, sworn on the 7th 

of June, 1806 24 

13. Letter from Earl Spencer to Lord Gwydir, dated 

June 20, 1806 „-. 25 

14. Letter from Lord Gwydir to Earl Spencer, dated 

the2IstJune, 1806 - 25 

15. Letter from Lady Willoughby to Earl Spencer, 

dated the 21st of June, 1806 27 

16. Extract from the Register of Brownlow Street 

Hospital, dated 23d June, 1806 27 

17. Deposition of Elizabeth Gosden, sworn the 23d 

of June, 1806 28 

18. Deposition of Betty Townley, sworn the 23d of 

June, 1806 - 29 

19. Deposition of Thomas Edmeades, sworn the 25th 

of June, 1806 ... 30 

SO. Deposition of Samuel Gillam Mills, sworn the 

25th of June,1806 32 

21. Deposition of Harriet Fitzgerald, sworn the 27th 

of June, 1 806 . . 33 

22. Letter from Earl Spencer to Lord Gwydir, dated 

the 1st of July, 1806 - 36 

23. Letter from Lord Gwydir to Earl Spencer, dated 

the 3rd of July, 1806 - 37 

£4. Queries and Answers of Lord Gwydir. . - . . . 37 

25. Robert Bidgood's further Deposition, sworn the 

3d of July, 1806 39 

26. Deposition of Sir Francis Millman, sworn the 3rd 

of July, 1806 41 

27. Deposition of Mrs. Lisle, sworn on the 3rd of 

July, 1806 42 

28. Let ter from Sir Francis Millman, dated the 4th 

ofJuly, 1806 46 

29. Deposition of Earl Cholmondeley, sworn on the 

16th of July, 1806 «--. 47 



Vill CONTENTS, 



APPENDIX (B.) 

No. Page 

1. Statement of Lady Douglas, signed on the 3d of 

December, 1805 49 

2. Narrative of the Duke of Kent, signed on the 

27th of December, 1805 92 

3. Examinations of Sarah Lampert and William 

Lam pert .» 97 

4. First Examination of William Cole, dated the 

1 1th of January, 1806 - - - 98 

5. Second Examination of William Cole, dated the 

14th of January, 1806 100 

6. Third Examination of William Cole, dated the 

30th of January, 1806 102 

7. Fourth Examination of William Cole, dated the 

28d of February, 1806 «--- 102 

8. Examination of Robert Bidgood, dated the 4th of 

^ April, 1806 103 

9. Examination of Sarah Bidgood - - 106 

10. ■ Frances Lloyd, dated the 12th of 

May, 1806 107 

Statement of Facts relative to the Child now under the 
protection of Her Royal Highness the Princess 
of Wales 119 



A NARRATIVE 



OP THE 



Utttnt <&btnt# 

fhat have led to the Publication of the Original Docu- 
ments relative to Her Royal Highness 

THE PRINCESS OF WALES. 



FOR the last three months, so many "hints, advertisements a 
and notices appeared in the daily papers, and in various other 
ways, that the public mind, was, in some measure, prepared 
to expect a full disclosure of the proceedings relative to her 
Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. The following occurs 
rence was the first that strengthened the conviction of every 
observer on this subject. 

On the 14th of January last, a sealed letter was transmitted 
to Lord Liverpool and Lord Eldon, by Lady Charlotte Camp- 
bell, as lady in waiting for the month, expressing her Royal 
Highness's pleasure that it should be presented to the Prince 
Jtegent j and there was an open copy for their perusal. 

On the 15th, the Earl of Liverpool presented his compli- 
ments to Lady Charlotte Campbell, and returned the letter 
Unopened. 

On the l6th, it was returned by Lady Charlotte, intimating, 
that as it contained matter of importance to the State, she 
relied on their laying it before his Royal Highness. It was 
again returned unopened, with the Earl of Liverpool's com- 
pliments to Lady Charlotte, saying, that the Prince saw no 
reason to depart from his determination. 

On the l?th, it was returned, in the same way, by command 
of her Royal Highness, expressing her confidence, that the two 
noble lords would not take upon themselves the responsibility 



( X ) 

of not communicating the letter to his Royal Highness, and 
that she should not be the only subject in the empire, whose 
petition was not to be permitted to reach the throne. To 
this an answer was given, that the contents of it had been 
made known to the Prince. 

On the 19th, her Royal Highness directed a letter to be ad- 
dressed to the two noble lords, desiring to know whether it 
had been made known to his Royal Highness, by being read 
to him, and to know his pleasure thereon. 

No answer was given to this letter, and therefore on the 
20th, she directed a letter to be written, expressing her sur- 
prize, that no answer had been given to her application for a 
whole week. 

To this, an answer was received, addressed to the Princess, 
stating, that in consequence of her Royal Highness's demand. 
her letter had been read to the Prince Regent on the 23rd, 
but that he had not been pleased to express his pleasure 
thereon. The following is a copy of this important document : 
" Sir, 
" Jt is with great reluctance that I presume to obtrude myself 
upon your Royal Highness, and to solicit your attention to 
matters which may, at first, appear rather of a personal than 
a public nature. If I could think them so — if they related 
merely to myself- — I should abstain from a proceeding which 
might give uneasiness, or interrupt the more weighty occupa- 
tions of your Royal H'ghness's time. I should continue, in 
silence and retirement, to lead the life which has been pre- 
scribed to me, and console myself for the loss of that society 
and those domestic comforts to which I have so long been a 
stranger, by the reflection that it has been deemed proper I 
should be afflicted without any fault of my own — and that 
you» Royal Highness knows. 

" But, Sir, there are considerations of a higher nature than 
any regard to my own happiness, which render this address a 
duty both to myself and my daughter,, May I venture to say 
—a duty also to my husband, and the people committed to 
his oare ? There is a point beyond which a guiltless womaa 



( xi ) 

cannot with safety carry her forbearance. If her honour is 
invaded, the defence of her reputation is no longer a matter 
of choice $ and it signifies not whether the attack be made 
openly, manfully, and directly — or by secret insinuation, and 
by holding such conduct towards her as countenances all the 
suspicions that malice can suggest. If these ought to be the 
feelings of every woman in England who is conscious that she 
deserves no reproach, your Royal Highness has too sound a 
judgment, and too nice a sense of honour, not to perceive, 
how much more justly they belong to the mother of your 
daughter — the mother of her who is destined, I trust at a very 
distant period, to reign over the British Empire. 

" It may be known to your Royal Highness, that during 
the continuance of the restrictions upon your royal authority, I 
purposely refrained from making any representations which 
might then augment the painful difficulties of your exalted 
station. At the expiration of the restrictions, I still was in- 
clined to delay taking this step, in the hope that I might owe 
the redress I sought to your gracious and unsolicited conde- 
scension. I have waited, in the fond indulgence of this 
expectation, until, to my inexpressible mortification, I find 
that my unwillingness to complain, has only produced fresh 
grounds of complaint; and I am at length compelled, either 
to abandon all regard for the two dearest objects which I pos- 
sess on earth, mine own honour, and my beloved child, or to 
throw myself at the feet of your Royal Highness, the natural 
protector of both. 

" I presume, Sir, to represent to your Royal Highness, that 
the separation, which every succeeding month is making 
wider, of the mother and the daughter, is equally injurious to 
my character and to her education. I say nothing of the deep 
wounds which so cruel an arrangement inflicts upon my feel- 
ings, although I would fain hope that few persons wiil be 
found of a disposition to think lightly of these. To see my- 
self cut off from one of the few domestic enjoyments left me 
—certainly the only one upon which I set any value, the 
society of my child— involves me in such misery, as I well 



t m ) 

know your Royal Highness could never inflict upon me if yotjt 
were aware of its bitterness. Our intercourse has been gra- 
dually diminished. A single interview, weekly, seemed suf- 
ficiently hard allowance for a mother's affections. That; 
however, was reduced to our meeting once a fortnight j and I 
now learn that even this most rigorous interdiction is to be 
still more rigidly enforced. 

'• But while I do not venture to intrude my feelings as a 
mother upon your Royal Highness's notice, I must be allowed 
to say, that in the eyes of an observing and jealous world, 
this separation of a daughter from her mother, will only ad- 
mit of one construction-— a construction fatal to the mother's 
reputation. Your Royal Highness will also pardon me for ad- 
ding, that there is no less inconsistency than injustice; in this 
treatment. He who dares advise your Royal Highness to over- 
look the evidence of my innocence, and disregard the sentence 
of complete acquittal which it produced j or is wicked and 
false enough still to whisper suspicions in your ear, betrays 
his duty to you, sir, to your daughter, and to your people, if 
he counsels you to permit a day to pass without a further 
investigation of my conduct. I know that no such calum- 
niator will venture to recommend a measure which must 
speedily end in his utter confusion. Then Jet me implore you 
to reflect on the situation in which I am placed : without the 
shadow of a charge against me— without even an accuser- 
after an inquiry that led to my ample vindication — yet treated 
as if I were still more culpable than the perjuries of my 
suborned traducers represented me, and held up to the world 
as a mother who may not enjoy the society of her only 
child. 

" The feelings, sir, which are natural to my unexampled 
situation, might justify me in the gracious judgment of your 
Royal Highness had I no other motives for addressing you but 
such as relate to myself. But I will not disguise from your 
Royal Highness what I cannot for a moment conceal from my- 
self, that the serious, and it soon may be, the irreparable 
injury which my daughter sustains from the plan at present 



t xiii ) 

pursued, has done more in overcoming my reluctance to in- 
trude upon your Royal Highness, than any sufferings of my own 
could accomplish ^ and if for her sake I presume to call away 
your Royal Highness's attention from the other cares of 
your exalted station, I feel confident I am not claiming it for 
a "matter of inferior importance either to yourself or your 
people. 

" The powers with which the constitution of these realms 
vests your Royal Highness in the regulation of the royal family, 
I know, because I am so advised, are ample and unquestion- 
able. My appeal, sir, is made to your excellent sense and 
liberality of mind in the exercise of those powers ; and I 
willingly hope that your own parental feelings will lead you 
to excuse the anxiety of mine for impelling me to represent 
the unhappy consequences which the present system must en- 
tail upon our beloved child. 

(t It is impossible, sir, that any one can have attempted to 
persuade your Royal Highness, that her character will not be 
injured by the perpetual violence offered to her strongest af- 
fections — the studied care taken to estrange her from my 
society, and even to interrupt all communication between us ? 
That her love for me, with whom, by his Majesty's wise and 
gracious arrangements, she passed the years of her infancy and 
childhood, never can be extinguished, I well know, and the 
knowledge of it forms the greatest blessing of my existence. 

" But let me implore your Royal Highness to reflect how 
inevitably all attempts to abate this attachment, by forcibly se- 
parating us, if they succeed, must injure my child's principles 
— if they fail, must destroy her happiness. 

u The plan of excluding my daughter from all intercourse with 
the world, appears to my humble judgment peculiarly unfor- 
tunate. She who is destined to be the sovereign of this great 
country, enjoys none of those advantages of society which are 
deemed necessary for imparting a knowledge of mankind to 
persons who have infinitely less occasion to learn that impor- 
tant lesson j and it may so happen, by a chance which I trust 
is very remote, that she should be called upon to exercise the 



( xiv ) 

powers of the Crown, with an experience of the world more 
confined than that of the most private individual. To the ex- 
traordinary talents with which she is blessed, and which ac- 
company a disposition as singularly amiable, frank, and de- 
cided, I willingly trust much -, but beyond a certain point the 
greatest natural endowments cannot struggle against the dis- 
advantages of circumstances and situation. It is my earnest 
prayer, for her own sake, as well as her country's, that your 
Royal Highness may be induced to pause before this point be 
reached. 

" Those who have advised you, sir, to delay so long the period 
of my daughter's commencing her intercourse with the world, 
and for that purpose to make Windsor her residence, appear not 
to have regarded the interruptions to her education which this 
arrangement occasions ; both by the impossibility of obtaining 

Sthe attendance of proper teachers, and the time unavoidably 
consumed in the frequent journies to town, which she must 
make, unless she is to be secluded from all intercourse, even 
with your Royal Highness and the rest of the royal family. To 
the same unfortunate counsels I ascribe a circumstance in every 
way so distressing both to my parental and religious feelings, 
that my daughter has never yet enjoyed the benefit of confir- 
mation, although above a year older than the age at which all 
the other branches of the royal family have partaken of that 
solemnity. May I earnestly conjure you, sir, to hear my in- 
treaties upon this serious matter, even if you should listen to 
other advisers on things of less near concernment to the wel- 
fare of our child ? 

" The pain with which I have at length formed the resolution 
of addressing myself to your Royal Highness is such as I should 
in vain attempt to express. If I could adequately describe it, 
you might be enabled, sir, to estimate the strength of the 
motives which have made me submit to it. They are the most 
powerful feelings of affection, and the deepest impressions of 
duty towards your Royal Highness, my beloved child, and the 
country, which I devotedly hope she may be preserved to 
govern, and to shew, by a new example, the liberal affection of 



( xv ) 

a free and generous people to a virtuous and constitutional 
monarch. 

<r I am, Sir, with profound respect, and an attachment 
which nothing can alter, 

Your Royal Highness's 

Most devoted and most affectionate 
Consort, Cousin, and Subject,. 

(Signed) CAROLINE LOUISA." 

Cf Montague House, 
Jan. 14, 1813. 

Various Cabinet Meetings and Proceedings succeeded this 
letter almost immediately. 

We must now advert to another circumstance connected 
wtih the Investigation. The Princess Charlotte having been in- 
disposed, previously to the Fete given by the Prince Regent, at 
Carlton House, on the 5th of February, and this illness after- 
wards increasing, her Royal Highness was necessarily obliged 
to defer her return to Windsor. In consequence of this, the 
Princess of Wales, on the 8th of February, addressed herself 
to Lord Liverpool, desiring that he would communicate to the 
Prince Regent her Royal Highness's intention to visit the Prin- 
cess Charlotte at Warwick-house. Lord Liverpool replied, 
that he was happy to announce the Princess Charlotte so much 
better, that her Royal Highness would be able to visit the Prin- 
cess of Wales, at Kensington Palace, on the following Thurs- 
day, February the 11th. On that morning, the Princess Jof 
Wales received information that the Princess Charlotte was 
refused coming. 

Upon this, the Princess of Wales again addressed Lord 
Liverpool to know the reason, none having been assigned, for 
the Princess Charlotte's being thus suddenly prohibited from 
giving the meeting to her royal mother, and when and how- 
soon her Royal Highness might expect to see the Princess 
Charlotte. To this inquiry, the Princess of Wales received the 
following reply from Lord Liverpool : — 



( xvi ) 

(COPY.) 

« Fife-house y Fel. 14, 1813. 

« Lord Liverpool has the honour to inform your Royal 
Highness, that in consequence of the publication, in the Morn- 
ing Chronicle of the 10th inst., of a letter addressed by your 
Royal Highness to the Prince Regent, bis Royal Highness 
thought fit, by the advice of his confidential servants, to signify 
his commands that the intended visit of the Princess Charlotte 
to your Royal Highness, on the following day, should n«t 
take place. 

" Lord Liverpool is not enabled to make any further com- 
munication to your Royal Highness on the subject of your 
Royal Highness's note." 

To this letter, the Princess of Wales commanded Lady Anne 
Hamilton, her lady in waiting, to reply, as follows, to Lord 
Liverpool : 

" Montague- House, Blackheath, Feb. 15, 1813. 

" Lady Anne Hamilton is commanded by her Royal High- 
ness the Princess of Wales to represent to Lord Liverpool that 
the insidious insinuation, respecting the publication of the 
letter addressed by the Princess of Wales, on the 14th of 
January, to the Prince Regent, conveyed in his lordship's 
reply to her Royal Highness, is as void of foundation and as 
false as all the former accusations of the traducers of her 
Royal Highness's honour in the year 1800. 

" Lady A. Hamilton is further commanded to say, that; 
dignified silence would have been the line of conduct the 
Princess would have preserved upon such insinuation (more 
than unbecoming Lord Liverpool), did not the effect arising 
from it, operate to deprive her Royal Highness of the sole 
real happiness she can possess in this world — that of seeing, 
her only child. And the confidential servants of the Prince 
Regent ought to feel ashamed of their conduct towards the 
Princess, in avowing to her Royal Highness their advice to the 
Prince Regent, that upon unauthorized and unfounded suppo- 
sitions, a mother and daughter should be prevented from meet- 
ing—a prohibition positively against the law of nature.--- Lady 



( xvii ) 

Anne Hamilton is commanded further to desire Lord Liver- 
pool to lay this paper before the Prince Regent, that his 
Royal Highness may be aware into what errors his confidential 
servants are leading him, and will involve him, by counselling 
and signifying such commands. 
Here closed the correspondence. 

The Cabinet meetings still continued to be held, and the 
Princess of Wales not being informed concerning the nature, 
form, and object of their proceedings, her Ptoyal Highness on 
the 27th of February, ad-dressed the subjoined letter to the 
Earl of Harrowby : 

Copy of a letter addressed by the Princessof Wales to the 
Earl of Harrowby. 

Feb. 27, 1813. 

" The Princess of Wales has received reports from various 
quarters of certain proceedings lately held by his Majesty's 
Privy Council respecting her Royal Highness ; and the Princess 
has felt persuaded that these reports must be unfounded, be- 
cause she could not believe it possible that any resolution 
should be taken by that most honourable body in any respect 
affecting her Royal Highness, upon statements which she has 
had no opportunity of answering, explaining, or even seeing. 

" The Princess still trusts that there is no truth in these 
rumours ; but she feels it due to herself to lose no time in 
protesting against any resolutions affecting her Royal High- 
ness, which may be so adopted. 

<{ The noble and right honourable persons who are said to 
have been selected for these proceedings, are too just to decide 
any thing touching her Royal Highness, without affording her 
an opportunity of laying her case before them. The Princess 
has not had any power to choose the Judges before whom an^ 
inquiry may be carried on j but she is perfectly willing to have 
her whole conduct inquired into by any persons who may be 
selected by her accusers. The Princess only demands that she 
may be heard in defence or in explanation of her conduct, if 
it is attacked ; and that she should either be treated as imae- 
««nt, or proved to be guilty." 



( xviii ) 

A copy of the Report of the honourable the Privy Council, 
having been laid before the Prince Regent, was transmit- 
ted to her Royal Highness by Viscount Sidmouth, on the 

evening of the day on which the above letter was sent; 

and Lord Harrowby replied to her Royal Highness, by 
letter, to this effect. 

The Report is as follows : — 

TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE REGENT. 

The following members of his Majesty's most honourable 
Privy Council, viz. 

His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, 

The right honourable the Lord High Chancellor, 

His Grace the Archbishop of York, 

His Grace the Lord Primate of Ireland, 

The Lord President of the Council, 

The Lord Privy Seal, 

The Earl of Buckinghamshire, 

The Earl Bathursr, 

The Earl of Liverpool, 

The Earl of Mulgrave, 

The Viscount Melville, 

The Viscount Sidmouth, 

The Viscount Castlereagh, 

The right honourable the Lord Bishop of London, 

The right honourable Lord Ellenborough, Lord Chief 

Justice of the Court of King's Bench, 
The right hon. the Speaker of the House of Commons, 
The right honourable the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
The right honourable the Chancellor of the Duchy, 
His honour the Master of the Rolls, 
The right honourable the Lord Chief Justice of the Court 
of Common Pleas*, 



* The Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas was prerento* ky 

.'n&gpotiticn from attending, during any part of these proceeding*. 



( & ) 

The right honourable the Lord Chief Baron of the Court 

of Exchequer, 
The right honourable the Judge of the High Court of 

Admiralty, 
The right honourable the Dean of the Arches ; 

Having been summoned by command «f your Royal High- 
Bess, on the 19th of February, to meet at the office of Vis- 
coupt Sidmouth, Secretary of State for the home department, 
a communication was made by his lordship to the lords then 
present, in the following terms j — 

" My Lords,— I have it in command from his Royal High- 
ness the Prince Regent, to acquaint your lordships, that a copy 
of a letter from the Princess of Wales to the Prince Regent 
having appeared in a public paper, which letter refers to th© 
proceedings that took place in an Inquiry instituted by com- 
mand of his Majesty, in the year 180(5, and contains among 
other matters, certain animadversions upon the manner in 
which the Prince Regent has exercised his undoubted right of 
regulating the conduct and education of his daughter the Prin- 
•ess Charlotte 5 and his Royal Highness having taken into his 
consideration the said letter so published, and adverting to the 
directions heretofore given by his Majesty, that the documents 
relating to the said Inquiry should be sealed up, and deposited 
in the office of his Majesty's principal Secretary of State, in 
order that his Majesty's government should possess the means 
of resorting to them if necessary, his Royal Highness has been 
pleased to direct, that the said letter of the Princess of Wales, 
and the whole of the said documents, together with the copies 
ef other letters and papers, of which a schedule is annexed, 
should be referred to your lordships, being members of his 
Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, for your consider- 
ation : and that you should report to his Royal Highness your 
opinion, whether, under all the circumstances of the case, it 
be fit and proper that the intercourse between the Princess of 
Wales and her daughter the Princess Charlotte, should con- 
tinue to be subject to regulations and restrictions." 

" Their lordships adjourned their meetings to Tuesday, the 
23d of February j and the intermediate days having been em- 



( xx ) 

ployed in perusing the documents referred to them, by com- 
mand of your Roy ?il Highness, they proceeded on that and 
the following day to the further consideration of the said docu- 
ments, and have agreed to report to your Royal Highness as 
follows : — 

*' la obedience to the commands of your Royal Highnesses 
have taken into our most serious consideration the letter from 
her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales to your Royal 
Highness, which has appeared in the public papers, and has 
been referred to us by your Royal Highness, in which letter 
the Princess of Wales, amongst other matters, complains that 
the intercourse between her Royal Highness, and her Royal 
Highness the Princess Charlotte, has been subjected to cer- 
tain restrictions. 

" We have also taken into our most serious consideration, 
together with the other papers referred to us by your Royal 
Highness, all the documents relative to the Inquiry instituted 
in 1806, by command of his Majesty, into the truth of cer- 
tain representations, respecting the conduct of her Royal 
Highness the Princess of Wales, which appear to have been 
pressed upon the attention of your Royal Highness, in con- 
sequence of the advice of Lord Thurlow, and upon grounds 
of public doty j by whom they were transmitted to his Ma- 
jesty's consideration j and your Royal Highness having been 
graciously pleased to command us to report our opinions to 
your Royal Highness, whether, under all the circumstances 
of the case, it be fit and proper, that the intercourse be- 
tween the Princess of Wales and her daughter, the Princess 
Charlotte, should continue to be subject to regulation and 
restraint : 

<e We beg leave humbly to report to your Royal Highness, 
that after a full examination of all the documents before us, 
we are of opinion, that under all the circumstances of the case, 
it is highly fit and proper, with a view to the welfare of her 
Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte, in which are equally- 
involved the happiness of your Royal Highness, in your pa- 
rental and royal character, and the most important interests of 
fa State,— that the intercourse between her Royal Highness 



( xxi ) 



the Princess of Wales, and her Royal Highness the Princess 
Charlotte, should continue to be subject to regulation and 
restraint, 

" We humbly trust that we may be permitted,without being 
thought to exceed the limits of the duty imposed on us, res- 
pectfully to express the just sense we entertain of the motives 
by which your Royal Highness has been actuated in the post- 
ponement of the Confirmation of her Royal Highness the 
Princess Charlotte ; as it appears, by a statement under the 
hand of her Majesty the Queen, that your Royal Highness 
has conformed in this respect to the declared will of his Ma- 
jesty j who had been pleased to direct, that such ceremony 
should not take place till her Royal Highness should have 
completed her eighteenth year. 

" We also humbly trust that we may be further permitted to 
notice some expressions in the letter of her Royal Highness 
the Princess of Wales, which may possibly be construed as 
implying a charge of too serious a nature to be passed over 
without observation. We refer to the words — M suborned 
Iraducers." As this expression, from the manner it is intro- 
duced, may, perhaps, be liable to misconstruction (however 
impossible it may be to suppose that it can have been so in- 
tended) to have reference to some part of the conduct of your 
Royal Highness j we feel it our bounden duty not to omit this 
opportunity of declaring, that the documents laid before us, 
afford the most ample proof, that there is not the slightest 
foundation for such an aspersion. 

(Signed) 

C. CANTUAR, 

ELDON, 

E. EBOR, 

W. ARMAGH, 

HARROWBY, P. C. 

WESTMORELAND, C. P. S. 

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, 

BATHURST, 

LIVERPOOL, 

xMULGRAVE, 

MELVILLE, 

A true copy, 



SIDMOUTH, 

J. LONDON, 

ELLENBOROUGH, 

CHAS. ABBOT, 

N. VANSITTART, 

C. BATHURST, 

W. GRANT, 

A. MACDONALD, 

W. SCOTT, 

J. NICHOL. 

SIDMOUTH/ 



( xxii ) 

The next document of importance is a letter addressed t« 
the Right Honourable the Speaker of the House of Commons, 
by the Princess of Wales, in which her Royal Highness called 
for an investigation of her conduct, before Judges known to 
the Constitution, in order that she might either be declared to 
be innocent, or proved guilty. A copy of this letter was also 
transmitted to the Lord Chancellor. 

Immediately, upon the Meeting of the House of Commons, 
on March 2nd. the Speaker rose and observed, he thought it 
his duty to acquaint the House, that in the afternoon of yester- 
day, he had received a paper which purported to be a letter 
from her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, the contents 
of which it would have, of course, been his duty to communi- 
cate to the House ; but as it was delivered merely to on« 
of the door-keepers, he forbore to take any steps on the re- 
ceipt of it until it was properly authenticated. In so acting, 
he trusted, that he had not interposed so as to prerent, or 
improperly to delay, the approach of such a document to the 
consideration of the House of Commons. This morning the 
letter in question was authenticated ; he had received a du- 
plicate of it, inclosed in another letter from her Royal High- 
ness, and both of these letters, with the permission of the 
House, he should now read to them. 

The House having signified its assent, the Speaker pro- 
ceeded to read the first letter, which was to the following 
effect :— 

Montague-House , March 2. 

" The Princess of Wales begs to inform Mr. Speaker, that 
by her own desire, as well as in consequence of the advice of 
her Co unsel, she yesterday transmitted to hira a letter, the 
contents of which she was anxious should be made known to 
the House of Commons j and with that view her Royal 
Highness now incloses herewith a duplicate of that letter." 

The inclosure was as follows : — 

" Montague- House, Blackheath, March 1, 1813. 

" The Princess of Wales informs (Mr. Speaker) the Lord 
Chancellor, that she has received from the Lord Viscount 



( xxiii ) 

Sidmouth a copy of a Report made to his Royal Highness the 
Prince Regent, by a certain number of the Members of his 
Privy Council, to whom it appears, that bis Royal Highness 
had been advised to refer the consideration of documents, and 
other evidence, respecting her character and conduct. 

" The Report is of such a nature, that her Royal Highness 
feels persuaded no person can read it without considerng it as 
conveying aspersions upon her j and although their vagueness 
renders it impossible to discover precisely what is meant, or 
even what she has been charged with ; yet, as the Princess 
feels conscious of no offence whatever, she thinks it due to 
herself, to the illustrious Houses with which she is connected 
by blood and by marriage, and to the people, among whom 
she holds so distinguished a rank, not to acquiesce, for a mo- 
ment, in any imputation affecting her honour. 

"The Princess of Wales has not been permitted to knowupon 
what evidence the Members of the Privy Council proceeded, 
still less to be heard in her defence. She knew only by com- 
mon rumours of the inquiries which they have been carrying 
on, until the result of those inquiries was communicated te 
her, and she has no means now of knowing whether the 
Members acted as a body to which she can appeal for redress, 
at least for a bearing ; or only in their individual capacities, 
as persons selected to make a Report upon her conduct. 

" The Princess i9 therefore compelled to throw herself upoa 
the wisdom and justice of Parliament, and to desire that the 
fullest investigation may be instituted of her whole conduct 
during the period of her residence in this country. 

" The Princess fears no scrutiny, however strict, provided 
she may be tried by impartial Judges, known to the consti- 
tution, and in the fair and open manner which the law of the 
knd prescribes. 

" Her only desire is, that she may either be treated at 
innocent, or proved to be guilty. 

"The Princess of Wales desires Mr. Speaker (the Lord 
Chancellor) to communicate this letter to the House of Com- 
mons." 



( xxiv ) 

This letter having been read, some conversation took place 
between Mr. Whitbread and Lord Castlereagh on the sub- 
ject ; but as the promised motion of Mr. Cochrane John- 
stone* stood for the 14th of March, here the matter rested 
for the present. 

This letter was not communicated to the House of Lords, 
the Lord Chancellor conceiving that he was restrained by a 
tense of duty, from reading it to that House. 

On the 4th of March, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone proceeded 
to bring on his motion, and the Speaker having called on 
him, Mr. Lygon moved the standing order of the House, and, 
consequently, the doors were closed, and all strangers ex- 
cluded. The sitting being thus rendered secret, Mr. Bennett, 
moved an adjournment, upon which the House divided :-— 

Ayes, - - - 139 
Noes, - - - 248 

Majority, - 109 

The adjournment being thus negatived, Mr. Cochrane 
Johnstone said, that he would follow the example of the 
honourable member, who had moved to clear the gallery, by 
exercising his right also of not bringing forward the motion of 
which he had given notice. 

The proceedings in the House of Commons on the fjth of 
March, appear to have been of the highest importance, since 
they amounted to a complete vindication and acquittal of the 
Princess of Wales, not only from all the charges, but from all 
U»e aspersions that have been thrown out against her Royal 
Highness. 

Upon the meeting of the House on this day, 

Mr. Lygon moved that strangers should not be admitted 
after the division on the Brecon Canal Bill, and Mr. Bennett 



^Notice of this motion on the subject of her Royal Highness the 
Princess of Wales, was given by the Honourable Cochrane Johnstone, on 
the 25th of February last. 



XXV ) 



moved an adjournment, to establish his right of meeting 
clearing of the gallery on such ground. He did not, however, 
persist in dividing upon the question. 

Mr. Cochrane Johnstone then rose in pursuance of his no- 
tice and said, that it was the undoubted right of the honour- 
able member (Mr. Lygon) to act as he had done, in clearing 
the House of strangers j if, however, this precaution had been 
taken under the impression that any thing he had to say should 
be unbecoming the respect he owed to that House, or incon- 
sistent with what, was clue to the feelings of every branch of 
the Royal Family j such apprehensions were utterly unfounded. 
He thought it a duty he owed, in the first instance, to the 
Princess of Wales, to declare, that for the motion he was 
about to submit, he had no authority from her ; that he had 
had no communication with any person or persons whatsoever, 
and that the proceedings originated entirely and exclusively 
with himself. 

The honourable member proceeded to observe, that it was 
well known that a commission had been granted by the King- 
in 1806, to four noble lords, Grenville, Spencer, Erskine, and 
Ellenborough, to examine into certain allegations that had been 
preferred against the Princess of Wales. He then read the 
whole of the report made by the commissioners above stated, 
containing the most unqualified opinion, that the charge pro- 
duced by Sir John and Lady Douglas against the Princess of 
Wales, of having been delivered of a child in the year 1802, 
was utterly destitute of truth. It added, that the birth and 
real mother of the child, said to have been born of the Prin- 
cess, had been proved beyond all possibility of doubt. The 
report concludes with some objections made by the commis- 
sioners, to the manners, or to Uvity of manners, upon different 
occasions, in the Princess. 

The honourable member next proceeded to state, that the 
paper he should now read, was a document which he was ready 
to prove at the bar of the House ivas dictated by Lord Eldon, 
Mr. Perceval and Sir Thomas Plomer, though signed by the 
Princess of Wales ; it was a letter written, or purporting to h« 

d 



( xxvi ) 

written, by her Royal Highness to the King, on 9th October, 
1806, as a protest against the report of the Commissioners, just 
detailed 3 the letter being read at length appeared to be a 
formal and elaborate criticism upon the nature of the commis- 
sion under which her conduct had been reviewed ; it asserted 
in the most unqualified terms her own innocence, and called 
the chargei of her accusers a foul and false conspiracy 
made ex -parte, and affording no appeal. Upon this letter 
being read, the honourable member observed, that he fully con- 
curred ill the sentiments it expressed upon the subject of the 
commission, and that he insisted that the charge against the 
Princess before that Tribunal, by Sir John and Lady Douglas, 
was nothing short of treason j that if the commissioners had 
power to acquit her Royal Highness of the crime charged, they 
had equally the power to convict her : what was the state of 
that country in which such a thing were even possible ? Be- 
sides he inquired, what became of Sir John and Lady Doug- 
las ? If he Were rightly informed, they still persisted in the 
same story ; if all they maintained were so notoriously 
false, why ivere they not prosecuted ? The honourable mem- 
ber went on to remark, that he understood no proceedings 
of the late Privy Council, except the report, had been 
transmitted to the Princess of Wales. This was the case 
in 1806, but he submitted that copies of all those examina- 
tions should be given to her. The honourable member then 
concluded by moving, first, a very long resolution, containing 
nearly the whole of the report of the Commissioners in 1806, 
with his own reasoning upon the illegality of such a commis- 
sion, and terminating with expressing the expediency of a new 
and different trial of, or inquiry into, the same subject -, the 
second motion was, for a variety of papers connected with this 
subject, from 1806 to the present time*. 

A very animated debate ensued, in which Lord Castlereagh, 
Mr. Whitbread, and Sir Samuel Romiily, were the principal 
speakers. 

* The whole of these interesting and important documents will be 
found in the present work. 

t 



: 



( XXV11 



Upon the question being put, Mr, Cochrane Johnstone's 
motion was negatived without a division. 

Thus terminated, for the present, this memorable debate, 
Which involved consequences of the last importance to the 
nation. 

From these proceedings in the House of Commons, may be 
inferred a perfect acquittal of her Royal Highness. No 
actual criminality was, or could be imputed to her Royal 
Highness; no case whatever was made out j no matter ex- 
isted against her Royal Highness to become the subject of 
Inquiry, and therefore further inquiry was accounted super- 
fluous. 

Notwithstanding this decision, however, on the 1 5th of 
March, Mr. Whitbread gave notice, in the House of Commons, 
of his intention to move on the 1/th of this month for an 
Address to the Prince Regent, praying his Royal Highness to 
-order a prosecution to be instituted against Lady Douglas, for 
the evidence given by her Ladyship, respecting the Princess 
of Wales. 

Upon the meeting of the House of Commons on the 13th 
instant, after the transaction of some routine business, Mr. 
Whitbread said, '« I hold in my hand a petition that I 
received just before my arrival in this House, which I wag 
requested to lay before it. On perusing it I find that it is 
worded in a manner perfectly respectful, and I therefore told 
the individual who delivered it into my care, that I felt it my 
duty, as a member of parliament, to present it. It is the petition 
of Major General Sir John Douglas, on behalf of himself and 
Charlotte Lady Douglas, his wife. I remarked that the form 
of the signature was not perfectly regular ; but I added, that 
I did conceive, that notwithstanding this informality the House 
would receive it as the petition of Sir John Douglas, though 
not as the joint petition of himself and his wife. — I, therefore, 
move for leave to bring up this petition." 

The question having been put, Mr. Whitbread brought up 
the petition, which was read by the Clerk, nearly in the 
following words : — 



( xxviii ) 

c < To the Honourable the Commons of the United 
Kingdom, &c. 
** The humble petition of Major-General Sir John 
Douglas, on behalf of himself and Charlotte Lady 
Douglas bis wife— 
" Sheweth — That your petitioners are advised that the de- 
positions they made on their oaths, before the Lords Commis- 
sioners appointed by his Majesty for investigating the conduct 
of her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, on or about the 
first of Jan. 1806\ were not made on such judicial proceedings, 
or before such a tribunal as could legally support a prosecution 
for perjury against them. 

ff Feeling the fullest confidence in those depositions, and in 
the justice of their cause, they are ready and desirous, and 
hereby offer to re-swear to the truth of such depositions before 
any tribunal competent to administer an oath, that your peti- 
tioners may be subjected to the penalty of perjury if it be proved, 
that they are false. 

" Your petitioners therefore pray that your Honourable 
House will adopt such proceedings as in your wisdom may be 
thought proper, to re-swear them to their depositions before 
such tribunal as would legally subject them to a prosecution for 
such depositions, should they be proved to be false : it being 
their anxious desire not to deliver themselves through any 
want of legal forms. 

(Signed) John Douglas." 

Mr. Whitbread moved, that the petition be laid upon the 
table, and it was ordered accordingly. 

Mr. Whitbread. again rose, and having taken a view 
of the whole affair n la-live to the conduct of her Royal 
Highness t ; - P incess of Wales, he made some remarks upon 
the line of proceeding adopted by two daily papers, the Morn- 
%ng Herald and the Post. 

in tht course of this long speech, Mr. Whitbread observed, 
** when upon a former night, in this House, the Princess 



( XXIX ) 

was pronounced innocent by the noble lord (Castlereagh), h& 
was proud of her triumph. A noble friend of her Royal High- 
ness had done him the honour of asking his advice, and he on 
that occasion sketched out a letter of dignified submission from 
her to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and sent it 
to the Princess. She did him the honour of taking a copy of 
it in her own hand, with the intention of sending it to the 
Prince; but this healing and desirable step was prevented, by 
her receiving information, that Sir John and Lady Douglas 
were again under examination, and that too with the sanction 
of the Lord Chancellor. The letter he would read, if the 
House would indulge him." The following is a correct copy : 

" Sir, — I once more approach your Royal Highness, and 
can venture to assure you, sir, that if you will deign to read 
my letter, you will not be dissatisfied with its contents. 

" The report made by certain Members of his Majesty's 
Privy Council, was communicated to me by Lord Sidmouth, 
and its contents appeared to those, upon whose advice I rely, 
to be such as to require on my part a public assertion of my 
innocence, and a demand of investigation. It cannot be un- 
known to your Royal Highness that I addressed a letter to the 
Lord Chancellor, and a duplicate of that letter to the Speaker 
of the House of Commons, for the purpose of its being com- 
municated to the Houses of Parliament. 

" The Lord Chancellor twice returned my letter, and did 
not communicate its contents to the House of Lords, 

"The Speaker of the House of Commons thought it his duty 
to announce the receipt of my letter, and it was read from the 
chair. To my inexpressible gratification I have been informed, 
that, although no proceeding was instituted according to my re- 
quest, certain discussions which took place in that Honourable 
House, have resulted in the complete, and unequivocal, and 
universal acknowledgment of my entire innocence, to the sa- 
tisfaction of the world. 

" Allow me, sir, to say to your Royal Highness, that I ad- 
dress you now, relieved from a load of distress which has pressed 
upon me for many years. 



( XXX ) 

* s 1 was always conscious that I was free from reproach. J 
am now known to be so, and worthy to bear the exalted title 
of Princess of Wales. 

<( On the subject of the confirmation of the Princess Char- 
lotte, I bow, as becomes me, and with implicit deference to 
the opinion expressed by his Majesty, now that I have been 
made acquainted with it. His Majesty's decision I must al- 
ways regard as sacred. 

" To such restrictions as your Royal Highness shall think 
proper to impose upon the intercourse between the Princess 
Charlotte and myself, as arising out of the acknowledged exer- 
cise of your Parental and Royal Authority, I submit without 
observation j but I throw myself upon the compassion of your 
Royal Highness, not to abridge more than may be necessary 
my greatest, indeed, my only pleasure. 

" Your Royal Highness may be assured, that, if the selec- 
tion of society for the Princess Charlotte, when on hei visits 
to me, were left to my discretion, it would be, as it always 
has been, unexceptionable for rank and character. If your 
Royal Highness would condescend, sir, to name the society 
yourself, your injunctions should be strictly adhered to. 

" I will not detain your Royal Highness — I throw myself 
again on your Royal justice and compassion, and I subscribe 
myself, with perfect sincerity, and in the happy feelings of jus- 
tified innocence, your Royal Highness's, &c. &c. &c." 

Mr. Whitbread concluded by putting in copies of the 
Morning Herald of Saturday and Monday last, the parts of 
which alluded to were entered and read, and then moved an 
humble address to the Prince Regent, expressive of the deep 
concern and indignation which the House felt at publications 
of so gross and scandalous a nature, so painful to the feelings 
of his Royal Highness, and all the other branches of his illus- 
trious family, and praying that his Royal Highness would be 
pleased to order measures to be taken for bringing to justice all 
the persons concerned in so scandalous a business, and particu- 
larly for preventing the continuance or repetition of so high an 
offence. 



( xxxi ) 

After some farther observations from Lord Castlereagh, the 
noble lord charged Mr. Whitbread " with indulging in illi- 
beral, unfair, and as he (Lord Castlereagh) thought, unparlia- 
mentary observations on the conduct of the Prince of Wales 
himself." 

Mr. Whitbread then moved, that the words of the- nobis, 
lord be taken down. This being agreed to, Mr. Whitbread 
dictated the words used by Lord Castlereagh, and the noble 
lord declined to make any alteration therein. 

Some farther discussion took place, and at length Lord 
Castlereagh proceeded with his speech. The debate was then 
continued, in which Mr. Ponsonby, Mr Bathurst, Mr. Ste- 
phen, Sir Samuel Ilomilly, Sir Thomas Plomer, and Mr. 
Tierney bore the principal share. 

Mr. Tierney (at the conclusion of his speech) moved an 

amendment, to which Mr. Whitbread consented. This 

amendment, upon the original motion, was, " That the 

printer and publisher of the Morning Herald, and of the 

Morning Post, should be called to the bar of the House to-> 

morrow, (the 19th inst.), to answer by whose authority they 

had published the depositions before the Frivy Council, and 

from whom they had received them." 

After some remarks from Mr. Ryder, Mr. C. Wynne, and 
Mr. Canning, Mr. Whitbread consented to withdraw his ori- 
ginal motion, and Mr. Tierney's amendment was then put, 
and negatived, without a division. 

Before the reader enters upon the perusal of the {< Book 
Itself," some account of the circumstances which gave rise 
to its important contents, may, perhaps, be acceptable. This 
indeed, is in some measure, necessary to the right understand- 
ing of that mass of extraordinary evidence now exhibited to the 
public. 

In the beginning of November 1805, his Royal Highness 
the Duke of Sussex made, known to the Prince that Sir John 
Douglas had communicated to him some circumstances in the 
conduct of the Princess of Wales, that it was of the utmost con- 
sequence to the honour of his Royal Highness, and to the se- 
curity of the Royal Succession, should be made known to him ; 
and that Sir John said, he and his Lady were ready to give a 
full disclosure, if called upon. He added, that his Royal 
Highness the Duke of Kent had been partly acquainted 
with the matter a twelvemonth before. 



( Xxxii ) 

In consequence! of this, the Prince called on the Duke of 
Kent, to say what had been communicated to him, and why 
he had for a whole year kept from his knowledge a matter so 
interesting to the honour of the family. 

The Duke of Kent, in a written declaration, stated, that 
about the end of 1804, he had received a note from the Prin- 
cess of Wales, stating, that she had got into an unpleasant al- 
tercation with Sir John and Lady Douglas, about an anony- 
mous letter and a filthy drawing, which they imputed to her 
Royal Highness. She requested the Duke of Kent to inter- 
fere, and prevent its going farther. His Royal Highness ap- 
plied to Sir Sidney Smith, and through him had an interview 
with Sir John Douglas ; who seemed convinced that both the 
anonymous letters and the loose drawing were by the hand of 
the Princess, and that the design was to provoke Sir John 
Douglas to a duel with his friend Sir Sidney Smith, by the 
gross insinuation flung out. respecting the latter and Lady 
Douglas. The Duke of Kent, however, succeeded in prevail- 
ing on Sir John Douglas to ahstain from his purpose of com- 
mencing a prosecution, or of stirring farther in the business j 
as he was satisfied in his mind of the falsehood of the insinua- 
tion, and could not be sure that tbe fabrications were not some 
gossipping story, in which the Princess had no hind. Sir John, 
however, spoke with great indignation of the conduct of the 
Princess, and promised only that he would for the present ab- 
stain from farther investigation, but would not give him a pro- 
mise of preserving silence if he should be farther annoyed. — 
The Duke of Kent concluded with stating, that nothing was 
communicated to him beyond this fracas,, and that having suc- 
ceeded in stopping it, he did not think it fit to trouble his 
Royal Highness with a gossipping story that might be entirely 
founded on the misapprehension of the offended parties. 

Sir John and Lady Douglas then made a formal declaration 
©f the whole narrative, as contained in their qent affida- 

vits, before the Duke of York, on the 3d December, 2S03. 
i This declaration was submitted by the Prince to the late 
Lord Thurlow, who said, that his Royal Highness had no al- 
ternative — it was his duty to submit it to the King, as the Royal 
Succession might be affected if the allegations were true, In 
the mean time, it was resolved to make farth, inquiry, and 
Mr. Low ten, of the Temple, was directed to take steps ac- 
cordingly. 

The consequence was that William and Sarah Lampert (ser- 
vants to Sir John Douglas), William Cole, II )eit and Sarah 
Bidgood, and Frances Lloyd made declarations, the whole of 
'which, together with that of Sir John and Lady Douglas were 
submitted to his Majesty, who thereupon issued a warrant, 
dated the 29th May 180fj, directing Lord E^kine", Lord Gren- 
ville, Earl Spencer, and Lord Ellenborougb, to inquire into the 
truth of the allegations, and to report to him thereon. 



.'I 



) .,11! .» 



THE 



PROCEEDINGS, 



$€. §C. 



REPORT 



OF THE 



COMMISSIONERS. 



May it please Your Majesty, 



Your Majesty having been graciously pleased, 
by an instrument under Your Majesty's Royal 
Sign Manual, a copy of which is annexed to this 
Report, to " authorize, empower, and direct us 
" to inquire into the truth of certain written 
" declarations, touching the conduct of Her 
11 Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, an 
" abstract of which had been laid before Your 
M Majesty, and to examine upon oath such 
" persons as we should see fit, touching and con- 
" cerning the same, and to report to You* 
" Majesty the result of such examinations." We 
have, in dutiful obedience to Your Majesty's com- 
mands, proceeded to examine the several witnesses, 



the copies of whose depositions we have hereunto 
annexed; and, in further execution of the said 
commands we now most respectfully submit to 
Your Majesty the report of these examinations 
as it has appeared to us : But we beg leave at 
the same time humbly to refer Your Majesty, 
for more complete information, to the examinations 
themselves, in order to correct any error of judg- 
ment, into which we may have unintentionally 
fallen, with respect to any part of this business. 
On a reference to the above-mentioned declara- 
tions, as the necessary foundation of all our pro- 
ceedings, we found that they consisted in certain 
statements, which had been laid before His Royal 
Highness the Prince of Wales, respecting the 
conduct of Her Royal Highness the Princess. 
That these statements, not only, imputed to Her 
Royal Highness great impropriety and indecency 
of behaviour, but expressly asserted, partly on 
the ground of certain alleged declarations from 
the Princess's own mouth, and partly on the 
personal observation of the informants, the fol- 
lowing most important facts ; viz. That Her 
Royal Highness had been pregnant in the year 
1802, in consequence of an illicit intercourse, 
and that she had in the same year been secretly 
delivered of a male child, which child had ever 
since that period been brought up by Her Royal 
Highness in her own house, and under her imme- 
diate inspection. 



These allegations thus made, had, as we found, 
been followed by declarations from other persons, 
who had not indeed spoken to the important 
facts of the pregnancy or delivery of Her Royal 
Highness, but had related other particulars, in 
themselves extremely suspicious, and still more 
so when connected with the assertions already 
mentioned. 

In the painful situation, in which His Royal 
Highness was placed, by these communications, 
we learnt that His Royal Highness had adopted 
the only course which could, in our judgment, 
with propriety be followed. When informations 
such as these, had been thus confidently alleged, 
and particularly detailed, and had been in some 
degree supported by collateral evidence, applying 
to other points of the same nature (though going 
to a far less extent), one line only could be pur- 
sued. 

Every sentiment of duty to Your Majesty, and 
of concern for the public welfare, required that 
these particulars should not be withheld from 
Your Majesty, to whom more particularly be- 
longed the cognizance of a matter of State, so 
nearly touching the honour of Your Majesty's 
Royal Family, and by possibility, affecting the 
Succession of Your Majesty's crown. 

Your Majesty had been pleased, on your part, 
to view the subject in the same light. Consider- 
ing it as a matter which, on every account, de- 



manded the most immediate investigation, Your 
Majesty had thought fit to commit into our hands 
the duty of ascertaining, in the first instance, what 
degree of credit was due to the informations, and 
thereby enabling Your Majesty to decide what 
further conduct to adopt concerning them. 

On this review, therefore, of the matters thus 
alleged, and of the course hitherto pursued upon 
them, we deemed it proper in the first place, to 
examine those persons in whose declarations the 
occasion for this Inquiry had originated. Because 
if they, on being examined upon oath, had retrac- 
ted or varied their assertions, all necessity for 
further investigation might possibly have been 
precluded. 

We accordingly first examined on oath the 
principal informants, Sir John Douglas, and Char- 
lotte his wife : who both positively swore, the 
former to his having observed the fact of tbe 
pregnancy of Her Royal Highness, and the latter 
to all the important particulars contained in her 
former declaration, and above referred to. Their 
examinations are annexed to this Report, and are 
circumstantial and positive. 

The most material of those allegations, into the 
truth of which we had been directed to inquire, 
being thus far supported by the oath of the parties 
from whom they had proceeded, we then felt it 
our duty to follow up the Inquiry by the examina- 
tion of such other persons as we judged best able 



to afford us information, as to the facts in ques- 
tion. 

We thought it beyond all doubt that, in this 
course of inquiry, many particulars must be learnt 
which would be necessarily conclusive on the 
truth or falsehood of these declarations. So many 
persons must have been witnesses to the appear- 
ances of an actually existing pregnancy ; so many 
circumstances must have been attendant upon a 
real delivery; and difficulties so numerous and 
insurmountable must have been involved in any 
attempt to account for the infant in question, as 
the child of another woman, if it had been in 
fact the child of the Princess ; that we entertained 
a full and confident expectation of arriving at com- 
plete proof, either in the affirmative or negative, on 
this part of the subject. 

This expectation was not disappointed. We 
are happy to declare to Your Majesty our perfect 
conviction that there is no foundation whatever 
for believing that the child now with the Princess 
is the child of Her Royal Highness, or that she 
was delivered of any child in the year 1802; nor 
has any thing appeared to us which would warrant 
the belief that she was pregnant in that year, or 
at any other period within the compass of our in- 
quiries. 

The indentity of the child, now with the 
Princess, its parentage, the place and the date of 
its birth, the time and the circumstances of its 



being first taken under Her Royal Highness's 
protection, are all established by such a concur- 
rence both of positive and circumstantial evidence, 
as can, in our judgment, leave no question oh 
this part of the subject. The child was, beyond 
all doubt, born in the Brownlow- Street Hospital, 
on the 1 1th day of July, 1802, of the body of So- 
phia Austin, and was first brought to the Princess's 
House in the month of November following. Nei- 
ther should we be more warranted in expressing 
any doubt respecting the alleged pregnancy of 
the Princess, as stated in the original declara- 
tions ; — a fact so fully contradicted, and by so many 
witnesses, to whom, if true, it must, in various ways 
have been known, that we cannot think it entitled 
to the smallest credit. The testimonies on these 
two points are contained in the annexed deposi- 
tions and letters. We have not partially abstracted 
them in this Report lest, by any unintentional 
omission, we might weaken their effect ; but we 
humbly offer to Your Majesty this our clear and 
unanimous judgment upon them, formed on full 
deliberation, and pronounced without hesitation, 
on the result of the whole Inquiry. 

We do not, however, feel ourselves at liberty, 
much as we should wish it, to close our Report 
here. Besides the allegations of the pregnancy 
and delivery of the Princess, those declarations, on 
the whole of which Your Majesty has been pleased 
to command us to inquire and report, contain, 



9 



as we have already remarked, other particulars 
respecting the conduct of her Royal Highness, 
such as must, especially considering her exalted 
rank and station, necessarily give occasion to very 
unfavourable interpretations. 

From the various depositions and proofs an- 
nexed to this Report, particularly from the exa- 
minations of Robert Bidgood, William Cole, 
Frances Lloyd, and Mrs. Lisle, Your Majesty 
will perceive that several strpng circumstances of 
this description have been positively sworn to by 
witnesses, who cannot, in our judgment, be sus- 
pected of any unfavourable bias, and whose vera- 
city, in this respect, we have seen no ground to 
question. 

On the precise bearing and effect of the facts 
thus appearing, it is not for us to decide ; these 
we submit to Your Majesty's wisdom : But we 
conceive it to be our duty to report on this part 
of the Inquiry, as distinctly as on the former facts : 
that, as on the one hand, the facts of pregnancy 
and delivery are to our minds satisfactorily dis- 
proved, so on the other hand we think, that the 
circumstances to which we now refer, particularly 
those stated to have passed between Her Royal 
Highness and Captain Man by, must be credited 
until they shall receive some decisive contradic- 
tion ; and, if true, are justly entitled to the most 
serious consideration. 



10 



We cannot close this Report, without humbly 
assuring Your Majesty, that it was, on every 
account, our anxious wish, to have executed this 
delicate trust, with as little publicity as the nature 
of the case would possibly allow ; and we entreat 
Your Majesty's permission to express our full per- 
suasion, that if this wish has been disappointed, the 
failure is not imputable to any thing unnecessarily 
said or done by us. 

All which is most humbly submitted to Your 
Majesty, 

(Signed) ERSKINE, 

SPENCER, 
GRENVILLE, 

July 14th, 1806. ELLENBOROUGH. 

A true Copy, 

J. Becket. 



The Depositions which accompanied this Report 
will be found in Appendix (A,) numbered from 
1 to 29. 



Blackheath, Aug. 12, 1806*. 
Sire, 
With the deepest feelings of gratitude to your 
Majesty, I take the first opportunity to acknow- 
ledge having received, as yesterday only, the Re- 
port from the Lords Commissioners, which was 



11 



V 



dated from the 14th of July. It was brought by 
Lord Erskine's Footman, directed to the Princess 
of Wales ; besides a note enclosed, the contents of 
which were, that Lord Erskine sent the Evidences 
and Report by commands of his Majesty. I had 
reason to flatter myself that the Lords Commis- 
sioners would not have given in the Report, be- 
fore they had been properly informed of various 
circumstances, which must for a feeling, and deli- 
cate-minded woman, be very unpleasant to have 
spread, without having the means to exculpate 
herself. But I can in the face of the Almighty 
assure your Majesty that your Daughter-in-law is 
innocent, and her conduct unquestionable ; free 
from all the indecorums, and improprieties, which 
are imputed to her at present by the Lords Com- 
missioners, upon the evidence of persons, who 
speak as falsely as Sir John and Lady Douglas 
themselves. Your Majesty can be sure that I 
shall be anxious to give the most solemn denial in 
my power to all the scandalous stories of Bidgood, 
and Cole ; to make my conduct be cleared in the 
most satisfactory way, for the tranquillity of your 
Majesty ; for the honour of your illustrious family, 
and the gratification of your afflicted daughter-in- 
law. In the mean time I can safely trust your 
Majesty's gracious justice to recollect, that the 
whole of the evidence on which the commissioners 
have given credit to the infamous stories charged 
against me, was taken behind my back, without my 
having any opportunity to contradict or explain 



If 



any thing, or «even to point out those personsy 
who might have been called, to prove the little 
credit which was due to some of the witnesses, from 
their connection with Sir John and Lady Douglas ; 
and the absolute falsehood of parts of the evidence, 
which could have been completely contradicted. 
Oh ! gracious King, I now look for that happy 
moment, when I may be allowed to appear again 
before your Majesty's eyes, and receive once more 
the assurance from } 7 our Majesty's own mouth 
that I have your gracious protection ; and that 
you will not discard me from your friendship, of 
which your Majesty has been so condescending to 
give me so many marks of kindness; and which 
must be my only support, and my only consolation, 
in this country. I remain with sentiments of the 
highest esteem, veneration, and unfeigned attach- 
ment, 

Sire, 

Your Majesty's most dutiful, submissive, 
and humble Daughter-in-law and Subject, 

(Signed) CAROLINE. 



To the King, 



13 



Montague- House, Aug. 1 7th, 1 806*. 

The Princess of Wales desires the Lord Chan- 
cellor to present her humble duty to the King, 
and to lay before His Majesty the accompanying 
letter and papers. The Princess makes this com- 
munication by his Lordship's hands, because it 
relates to the papers with which she has been 
furnished through his Lordship, by His Majesty's 
commands. 

To the Lord Chancellor. 



Aug. 17th, 1806. 
Sire, 

Upon receiving the copy of the Report, made 
to Your Majesty, by the Commissioners, appointed 
to inquire into certain Charges against my Conduct, 
I lost no time, in returning to your Majesty, my 
heartfelt thanks, for your Majesty's goodness in 
commanding that copy to be communicated to 
me. 

I wanted no adviser, but my own heart, to 
express my gratitude for the kindness, and protec- 
tion which I have uniformly received from your 
Majesty. I needed no caution or reserve, in 
expressing my confident reliance, that that kind- 
ness and protection would not dq withdrawn from 



14 



me, on this trying occasion ; and that your Majes- 
ty's justice would not suffer your mind to be 
affected, to my disadvantage, by any part of a 
Report, founded upon partial evidence, taken in 
my absence, upon charges, not yet communicated 
to me, until your Majesty had heard, what might 
be alleged, in my behalf, in answer to it. But 
your Majesty, will not be surprised, nor displeas- 
ed, that I, a woman, a stranger to the laws and 
usages of your Majesty's kingdom, under charges, 
aimed, originally, at my life, and honour, should 
hesitate to determine, in what manner I ought to 
act, even under the present circumstances, with 
respect to such accusations, without the assistance 
of advice in which I could confide. And I have 
had submitted to me the following observations, 
respecting the copies of the papers with which I 
have been furnished. And I humbly solicit from 
your Majesty's gracious condescension and justice, 
a compliance with the requests, which arise out of 
them. 

In the first place, it has been observed to me, 
that these copies of the Report, and of the accom- 
panying papers, have come unauthenticated by 
the signature of any person, high, or low, whose 
veracity, or even accuracy, is pledged for their 
correctness, or to whom resort might be had, if it 
should be necessary, hereafter, to establish, that 
these papers are correct copies of the originals. 
I am far from insinuating that the want of such 
attestations was intentional. No doubt it was omit- 



15 



ted through inadvertence; but its importance is 
particularly confirmed by the state, in which the 
copy of Mrs. Lisle's examination has been trans- 
mitted to me. For in the third page of that exami- 
nation there have been two erasures ; on one of 
which, some words have been, subsequently in- 
troduced apparently in a different hand-writing 
from the body of the examination ; and the passage 
as it stands, is probably incorrect, because the 
phrase is unintelligible. And this occurs in an 
important part of her examination. 

The humble, but earnest request, which I have 
to make to your Majesty, which is suggested by 
this observation, is, that your Majesty would be 
graciously pleased to direct, that the Report, and 
the papers which accompany it, and which, for 
that purpose, I venture to transmit to your Majes- 
ty with this letter, may be examined, and then 
returned to me, authenticated as correct, under 
the signature of some person, who, having attested 
their accuracy, may be able to prove it. 

In the second place, it has been observed to 
me, that the Report proceeds, by reference to 
certain written declarations, which the Commission- 
ers describe as the necessary foundation of all their 
proceedings, and which contain, as I presume, the 
charge or information against my conduct. Yet 
copies of these written declarations have not been 
given to me. They are .described indeed, in the 
Report, as consisting in certain statements, respect- 
ing my conduct, imputing not only, gross impro- 



priety of behaviour, but expressly asserting facts of 
the most confirmed, and abandoned criminality, for 
which, if true, my life might be forfeited. These 
are stated to have been followed by declarations 
from other persons, who, though not speaking to 
the same facts, had related other particulars, in 
themselves extremely suspicious, and still more so, 
as connected with the assertions already mentioned. 
On this, it is observed to me, that it is most im- 
portant that I should know the extent, and the 
particulars of the charges or informations against 
me, and by what accusers they have been made ; 
whether I am answering the charges of one set of 
accusers, or more. Whether the authors of the 
original declarations, who may be collected from 
the Report to be Sir John and Lady Douglas, are 
my only accusers ; and the declarations which are 
said to have followed, are the declarations of per- 
sons adduced as witnesses by Sir John and Lady 
Douglas to confirm their accusation; or whether 
such declarations are the charges of persons, who 
have made themselves also, the authors of distinct 
accusations against me. 

The requests, which, I humbly hope, your Ma- 
jesty will think reasonable, and just to grant, and 
which are suggested by these further observations 
are, 

First, That your Majesty would be graciously 
pleased to direct, that I should be furnished with 
copies of these declarations ; and, if they are rightly 
described in the Report, as the necessary founda- 



17 



tion of all the proceedings of the Commissioners, 
your Majesty could not, I am persuaded, but have 
graciously intended, in directing that I should be 
furnished with a copy of the Report, that I should 
also see this essential part of the proceeding, the 
foundation on which it rests. 

Secondly, That I may be informed whether I 
have one or more, and how many accusers ; and 
who they are ; as the weight and credit of the ac- 
cusation cannot but be much affected by the quar- 
ter from whence it originates. 

Thirdly, That I may be informed of the time 
when the declarations were made. For the weight 
and credit of the accusation must, also, be much 
affected, by the length of time, which my accusers 
may have been contented to have been the silent 
depositories of those heavy matters of guilt, and 
charge, and, 

Lastly, That your Majesty's goodness will se- 
cure to me a speedy return of these papers, ac- 
companied, I trust, with the further information 
which I have solicited ; but at all events a speedy 
return of them. And your Majesty will see, that 
it is not without reason, that I make this last request, 
when your Majesty is informed, that, though the 
Report appears to have been made upon the 14th 
of July, yet it was not sent to me, till the 1 1 th of 
the present month. A similar delay, I should, of 
all things, deplore. For it is with reluctance, that 
I yield to those suggestions, which have induced 



18 



me to lay, these, my humble requests, before your 
Majesty, since they must, at all events, in some de- 
gree, delay the arrival of that moment, to which, 
I look forward, with so earnest, and eager an im- 
patience ; when I confidently feel, I shall complete 
ly satisfy your Majesty, that the whole of these 
charges are alike unfounded : and are all parts of 
the same conspiracy against me. Your Majesty, so 
satisfied, will, I can have no doubt, be as anxious as 
myself, to secure to me that redress, which, the 
laws of your kingdom (administering, under your 
Majesty's just dispensation, equal protection and 
justice, to every description of your Majesty's sub- 
jects,) are prepared to afford to those, who are so 
deeply injured as I have been. That I have in this 
case, the strongest claim to your Majesty's justice, 
I am confident I shall prove ; but I cannot, as I am 
advised, so satisfactorily establish that claim, till 
your Majesty's goodness shall have directed me, to 
be furnished with an authentic statement of the ac- 
tual charges against me, and that additional infor- 
mation, which it is the object of this letter most 
humbly, yet earnestly, to implore. 

I am, 

Sire, 

Your Majesty's most dutiful, submissive, 
and humble Daughter-in-law, 

Montague House. (Signed) C. P. 

To the King. 



19 



Aug. 20th, 1806. 



The Lord Chancellor has the honour to return, 
to her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, the 
box, as he received it this morning from His Ma- 
jesty. It contains the papers he formerly sent 
to her Royal Highness, and which he sends as they 
are, thinking that it may be in the meantime most 
agreeable to her Royal Highness- 

The reason of their not having been authenticat- 
ed by the Lord Chancellor, was, that he received 
them as copies, from Earl Spencer, who was in 
possession of the originals ; and he could not there- 
fore, with propriety, do so, not having himself 
compared them ; but Her Royal Highness may 
depend upon having other copies sent to her, which 
have been duly examined and certified to be so. 

The box will be delivered to one of her Royal 
Highness's Pages in waiting, by the principal offi- 
cer, attendant upon the Lord Chancellor, and he 
trusts he shall find full credit, with her Royal High- 
ness, that in sending a servant formerly with the 
papers, the moment he received them (no messen- 
ger being in waiting, and the officers who attend 
him, being detained by their duties in court,) fee 
could not be supposed to have intended any pos- 
sible disrespect, which he is incapable ©f shewing 
to any lady, but most especially to any member ©f 
r Jiis Majesty's Royal Family, 



T& Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wafcs* 



m 



Lincoln > Inn Fields, Aug. 24, 1806\ 

His Majesty has been pleased to transmit to me 
the letter which he has received from your Royal 
Highness, dated the 17th instant; and to direct, that 
I should communicate the same to the Lords 
Commissioners, who had been commanded by His 
Majesty to report to His Majesty on the matters 
therein referred to ; and I have now received His 
Majesty's further commands, in consequence of 
that letter, to acquaint your Royal Highness, that 
when I transmitted to your Royal Highness, by 
the King's couintaods, and under my signature, 
the copies of official papers, which Imd been laid 
before His Majesty, those papers were judged 
thereby duly authenticated, according to the usual 
course and forms of office ; and sufficiently so, for 
the purposes, for which, His Majesty had been gra- 
ciously pleased to direct them to be communicated 
to your Royal Highness. 

That, nevertheless, there does not appear to be 
any reason for His Majesty's declining a compliance 
with the request which your Royal Highness has 
been advised to make, that tfiose copies should, 
after being examined with the originals, be at- 
tested by some person to be named for that pur- 
pose : and that, if your Royal Highness will do 
me tlie honour to transmit them to me, they shall 
be examined and attested accordingly, after cor- 
recting any errors, that may have occurred in the 
copying. 



21 



His Majesty lias further authorized me to ac- 
quaint your Royal Highness, that he is graciously 
pleased, on your Royal Highness's request, to con- 
sent, that copies of the written declarations, referred 
to in the Report of the Lords Commissioners, 
should be transmitted to your Royal Highness, and 
that the same will be transmitted accordingly, go 
soon as they can be transcribed. 

(Signed) ERSKINE C. 

The Lord Chancellor has the honour to add to 
tfee above official communication, that his Parse- 
bearer respectfully waits her Royal Highness's com- 
mands, in case it should be Her Royal Highness's 
pleasure to return the papers by him. 

Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. 



Lincoln's Inn Fields, Aug. 29th, 1806. 

The Lord Chancellor has the honour to transmit, 
to Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, the 
papers,* desired by Her Royal Highness, just as 
he received them a few minutes ago from Earl 
Spencer, with the note accompanying them. 

* N. B. These papers, being the original decla- 
rations, on which the Inquiry proceeded will be 
found in Appendix (A.) 



22 



Aug. 31st, 1806. 

Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales 
acquaints the Lord Chancellor, that the gentle- 
man, with whom her Royal Highness advises, and 
who had possession of the copies of the official 
papers communicated to Her Royal Highness, 
by the Lord Chancellor, returned from the coun- 
try late yesterday evening. Upon the subject of 
transmitting these papers to the Lord Chancellor, 
for the purpose of their being examined, and 
authenticated, and then returned to Her Royal 
Highness, he states, that in consequence of 
the Lord Chancellor's assurance, contained in his 
note of the 20th inst. that Her Royal Highness 
might depend upon having other copies sent to 
her, which had been duly examined and certified 
to be so ; he has relied upon being able to refer to 
those already sent, and therefore it would be incon- 
venient to part with them at present : and Her 
Royal Highness therefore hopes, that the Lord 
Chancellor will procure for her the other authenti- 
cated copies, which his Lordship promised in his 
note of the 20th inst. 

With respect to the copies already sent, being 
as the Lord Chancellor expresses it, in his letter 
of the 24th inst. " judged to be duly authenticated 
" according to the usual course and forms of office, 
11 and sufficiently so for the purpose for which 
M His Majesty had been graciously pleased to 



23 



" direct them to be communicated to Her Royal 
" Highness, because they were transmitted to 
" Her, by the King's commands, and under his 
M Lordship's signature," — Her Royal Highness 
could never have wished for a more authentic 
attestation, if she had conceived, that they were 
authenticated under such signature. But she could 
not think that the mere signature of his Lordship, 
on the outside of the envelope, which contained 
them, could afford any authenticity to the thirty 
papers, which that envelope contained ; or could, 
in any manner, identify any of those papers, as 
having been contained in that envelope. And 
she had felt herself confirmed in that opinion, by 
his Lordship's saying in his note of the 20th inst. 
" that the reason of their not having been authen- 
u ticated, by the Lord Chancellor, was, that he 
" received them as copies from Earl Spencer, who 
<c was in possession of the originals, and he could 
" not therefore with propriety do so, not having 
" himself compared them. 

Her Royal Highness takes this opportunity of 
acknowledging the receipt of the declarations refer- 
red to in the Commissioners' Report. 

To the Lord Chancellor. 



24 



Lincoln's Inn Fields, Sept 2nd, 1806\ 

The Lord Chancellor has taken the earliest 
opportunity in his power, of complying with the 
wishes of Her Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales. He made the promise of other copies, 
without any communication with the other Com- 
missioners, wholly from a desire to shew every 
kind of respect and accommodation to Her Royal 
Highness, in any thing consistent with his duty, 
and, not at all, from any idea, that the papers, as 
originally sent, (though there might be errors in 
the copying) were not sufficiently authenticated. 
An opinion which he is obliged to say he is not 
removed from ; nevertheless, the Lord Chancellor 
has a pleasure in conforming to Her Royal High- 
ness's wishes, and has the honour to enclose the 
attested copies of the Depositions, as he has receiv- 
ed them from Earl Spencer. 

To Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. 



To the King. 

Sire, 

Impressed with the deepest sentiments of gra- 
titude, for the countenance and protection which I 
have hitherto uniformly received from your majes- 
ty, I approach jou, with a heart undismayed, upon 



25 



this occasion, so awful and momentous to my cha- 
racter, my honour, and my happiness. I should 
indeed, (under charges such as have now been 
brought against me,) prove myself undeserving of 
the continuance of that countenance and protection, 
and altogether umvofthy of the high station, which 
I bold in your Majesty's illustrious family, if I 
sought for any partiality, for any indulgence, for 
any thing more, than what is due to me in justice. 
My entire confidence in your Majesty's virtues as- 
sures me, that I cannot meet with less. 

The situation, which I have been so happy as to 
hold in your Majesty's good opinion and esteem ; 
my station in your Majesty's august family ; my 
life, my honour, and, through mine, the honour of 
your Majesty's family have been attacked. Sir 
John and Lady Douglas have attempted to support 
a direct and precise charge, by which they have dared 
to impute to me, the enormous guilt of High 
Treason, committed in the foul crime of Adultery. 
In this charge, the extravagance of their malice has 
defeated itself. The Report of the Lords Com- 
missioners, acting under your Majesty's warrant, 
has most fully cleared me of that charge. But there 
remain imputations, strangely sanctioned, and coun- 
tenanced by that Report, on which I cannot remain 
sifent, without incurring the most fatal conse- 
quences to my honour and character. For it states 
to your Majesty, that " The circumstances detailed 
against me must be credited, till thev are deci- 
sivety contradicted." 



26 



To contradict, with as much decision, as the 
contradiction of an accused can convey ; to expose 
the injustice and malice of my enemies ; to shew 
the utter impossibility of giving credit to their tes- 
timony ; and to vindicate my own innocence, will 
be the objects, Sire, of this letter. In the course 
of my pursuing these objects, I shall have much to 
complain of, in the substance of the Proceeding 
itself, and much in the manner of conducting it. 
That any of these charges should, ever, have been 
entertained, upon testimony so little worthy of 
belief, which betrayed, in every sentence, the 
malice in which it originated ; that, even if they 
were entertained at all, your Majesty should have 
been advised to pass by the ordinary legal modes 
of Inquiry into such high crimes, and to refer them 
to a Commission, open to all the objection, which I 
shall have to state to such a mode of Inquiry ; that 
the Commissioners, after having negatived the 
principal charge of substantive crime, should have 
entertained considerations of matters, that amount- 
ed to no legal offence, and which were adduced, 
not as substantive charges in themselves, but as 
matters in support of the principal accusation; 
That through the pressure and weight of their offi- 
cial occupations, they did not, perhaps, could not, 
bestow' that attention on the case, which, if given to 
it, must have enabled them to detect the villany 
and falsehood of my accusers, and their foul con- 
spiracy against me ; and must have preserved my 
character from the weighty imputation which the 



«L1 



authority of the Commissioners, has, for a time, 
cast upon it ; but, above all, that they should, 
upon this ex parte examination, without hearing 
one word that I could urge, have reported to your 
Majesty, an opinion on these matters, so prejudi- 
cial to my honour, and from which I can have no 
appeal, to the laws of the country, (because the 
charges, constituting no legal offence, cannot be 
made the ground of a judicial inquiry ;) — These 
and many other circumstances, connected with the 
length of the Proceeding, which have cruelly aggra- 
vated, to my feelings, the pain necessarily atten- 
dant upon this Inquiry, I shall not be able to 
refrain from stating, and urging, as matters of se- 
rious lamentation at least, if not of well-grounded 
complaint. 

In commenting upon any part of the circum- 
stances, which have occurred in the course of this 
Inquiry, whatever observations I may be compel- 
led to make upon any of them, I trust, I never 
shall forget what is due to officers in high station 
and employment under your Majesty. No apolo- 
gy, therefore, can be required for any reserve in my 
expressions towards them. But if, in vindicating 
my innocence against the injustice and malice of my 
enemies, I should appear to your Majesty not to 
express myself with all the warmth and indigna- 
tion, which innocence, so foully calumniated, must 
feel, your Majesty will, I trust, not attribute my 
forbearance to any insensibility to the grievous in- 
juries I have sustained; but will graciously be 



2§ 



pleased to ascribe it to the restraint I have impos- 
ed upon myself, lest in endeavouring to describe 
in just terms, the motives, the conduct, the per- 
jury, and all the foul circumstances which charac- 
terize, and establish the malice of my accusers, I 
might use language, which, though not unjustly ap- 
plied to them, might be improper to be used, by 
me, to any body, or unfit to be employed by any 
body, humbly, respectfully, and dutifully address- 
ing your Majesty. 

* That a fit opportunity has occurred for laying 
open my heart to your Majesty, perhaps, I shall, 
hereafter, have no reason to lament. For more 
than two years, I had been informed, that, upon 
the presumption of some misconduct in me, my 
behaviour had been made the subject of investiga- 
tion, and my neighbours' servants had been exam- 
ined concerning it. And for some time, I had 
received mysterious and indistinct intimations, 
that some great mischief vvas meditated towards 
me. And, in all the circumstances of my very pe- 
culiar situation, it will not be thought strange, that 
however conscious I was, that I had no just cause 
of fear, I should yet feel some uneasiness on this 
account. With surprise certainly, (because the 
first tidings w ere of a kind to excite surprise,) but 
without alarm, I received the intelligence, that, for 
some reason, a formal investigation of some parts 
of my conduct had been advised, and had actually 
taken place. His Hoyal Highness the Duke of 
Kent, on the 7th of June, announced it to mc 



29 



He announced to me, — the Princess cf Wales, in 
the first communication made to me, with respect 
to this proceeding, the near approach of two attornies 
(one of them, I since find, the solicitor employed 
by Sir John Douglas), claiming to enter my dwell- 
ing, with a warrant, to take away one half of my 
household, for immediate examination upon a 
charge against myself. Of the nature of that 
charge, I was then uninformed. It now appears, it 
was the charge of High Treason, committed in the 
infamous crime of adultery. His Royal Highness, 
I am sure, will do me the justice to represent to 
your Majesty, that I betrayed no fear, that I ma- 
nifested no symptoms of conscious guilt, that I 
sought no excuses to prepare, or to tutor, my ser- 
vants for the examination which they were to under- 
go. The only request which I made to his Royal 
Highness was, that lie would have the goodness to 
remain with me till my servants were gone ; that 
he might bear witness, that I had no conversation 
with them before they went. In truth, Sire, mv 
anxieties, under a knowledge that some serious 
mischief was planning against me, and while I was 
ignorant of its quality and extent, had been so great, 
that I could not but rejoice at an event, which 
seemed to promise me an early opportunity of as- 
certaining what the malice of my enemies intended 
against me. 

It has not been, indeed, without impatience the 
most painful, that I have- passed the interval, which 
has since elapsed. When once it was not only 



30 



known to me, but to the world (for it was known 
to the world) that Inquiry of the gravest nature 
had been instituted into my conduct, I looked to 
the conclusion, with all the eagerness that could 
belong to an absolute conviction, that my inno- 
cence, and my honour, to the disgrace and con- 
fusion of my accusers, would be established ; and 
that the groundless malice, and injustice of the 
whole charge would be manifested to the world, 
as widely as the calumny had been circulated. I 
knew that the result of an ex parte inquiry, from 
its very nature, could not, unless it fully asserted 
my entire innocence, be in any degree just. And 
I had taught myself most firmly to believe, that 
it was utterly impossible, that any opinion, which 
could, in the smallest degree, work a prejudice 
to my honour and character, could ever be ex- 
pressed in any terms, by any persons, in a Report 
upon a solemn formal Inquiry, and more especially 
to your Majesty, without my having some notice, 
and some opportunity of being heard. And I 
was convinced, that, if the Proceeding allowed me, 
before an opinion was expressed, the ordinary 
means, which accused persons have, of vindicating 
their honour and their innocence, my honour and 
my innocence must, in any opinion, which could 
then be expressed, be fully vindicated, and effec- 
tually established. What then, Sire, must have 
been my astonishment, and my dismay, when I 
saw, that notwithstanding the principal accusation 
was found to be utterly false, yet some of the wit- 



31 



nesses to those charges which were brought in 
support of the principal accusation, — witnesses, 
whom, any person, interested to have protected my 
character, would easily have shewn, out of their 
own mouths, to be utterly unworthy of credit, and 
confederates in foul conspiracy with my false accu- 
sers, are reported to be " free from all suspicion of 
unfavourable bias ;" their veracity, " in the judg- 
ment of the Commissioners, not to be questioned;" 
and their infamous stories, and insinuations against 
me, to be " such as deserve the most serious con- 
sideration, and as must be credited till decisivelv 
contradicted." 

The Inquiry, after I thus had notice of it, con- 
tinued for above* two months. I venture not to 
complain, as if it had been unnecessarily protract- 
ed. The important duties, and official avoca- 
tions of the Noble Lords, appointed to carry i; 
on, may naturally account for, and excuse, some 
delay. But however excusable it may have been, 
your Majesty will easily conceive the pain and 
anxiety, which this interval of suspense, has occa- 
sioned ; and your Majesty will not be surprised, 
if I further represent, that I have found a great 
aggravation of my painful sufferings, in the delay 
which occurred in communicating the Report to 
me. For though it is dated on the 14th July. 

* The time that the Inquiry was pending, after this notice 
of it, is here confounded with the time which elapsed before 
the Report was communicated to Her Royal Highness. The 
Inquiry itself only lasted to the 14th or l6th of July, which is 
but betweeu five and six weeks from the 7th of June. 



32 



I did not receive it, notwithstanding your Majes- 
ty's gracious commands, till the 1 1 th of August. 
It was due, unquestionably, to your Majesty, that 
the result of an Inquiry, commanded by your 
Majesty, upon advice which had been offered, 
touching matters of the highest import, should be 
first, and immediately, communicated to you. The 
respect and honour due to the Prince of Wales, the 
interest which he must necessarily have taken in 
this Inquiry, combined to make it indisputably 
fit, that the result should be, forthwith, also stated 
to His Royal Highness. I complain not, therefore, 
that it was too early communicated to any one : 
I complain only, (and I complain most seriously, 
for I felt it most severely) of the delay in its com- 
munication to me. 

Rumour had informed the world, that the Re- 
port had been early communicated to your Ma- 
jesty, and to his Royal Highness. I did not 
receive the benefit, intended for me by your 
Majesty's gracious command, tiii a month after 
the Report was signed. But the same rumour 
had represented me, to my infinite prejudice, as 
in possession of the Report, during that month, 
and the malice of those, who wished to stain my 
honour, has not failed to suggest all that malice 
could infer, from its remaining in that possession, 
so long unnoticed. May I be permitted to say, 
that, if the Report acquits me, my innocence en- 
titled me to receive from those, to whom your 
Majesty's commands had been given, an immediate 
notification of the fact that it did acquit me. 



35 



That, if it condemned me, the weight of such a 
sentence should not have been left to settle, in 
any mind, much less upon your Majesty's, for a 
month, before I could even begin to prepare an 
answer, which, when begun, could not speedily 
be concluded ; and that, if the Report could be 
represented as both acquitting, and condemning 
me, the reasons, which suggested the propriety 
of an early communication in each of the former 
cases, combined to make it proper and necessary 
in the latter. 

And why all consideration of my feelings was 
thus cruelly neglected ; why I was kept upon the 
tack, during all this time, ignorant of the result 
of a charge, which affected my honour and my 
life ; and why, especially in a ease, where such 
grave matters were to continue to be " credited, 
to the prejudice of my honour," till they were 
" decidedly contradicted," the means of knowing 
what it was, that 1 must, at least, endeavour to 
contradict, were withholden from me, a single 
unnecessary hour, I know not, and I will not 
trust myself, in the attempt, to conjecture. 

On the 11th of August, however, I at length 
received from the Lord Chancellor, a packet con- 
taining copies of the Warrant or Commission au- 
thorizing the Inquiry; of the Report — and of the 
Examinations on which the Report was founded. 
And your Majesty may be graciously pleased U> 



Sf 



recollect, that on the 13th I returned my grateful 
thanks to your Majesty, for having ordered these 
papers to be sent to me. 

• Your Majssty will readily imagine that, upon a 
subject of such importance, I could not venture to 
trust only to my own advice; and those with whom 
I advised, suggested, that the written Declarati- 
ons or Charges upon which the Inquiry had pro- 
ceeded, and which the Commissioners refer to in 
their Report, and represent to be the essential 
foundation of the whole proceeding, did not ac- 
company the Examinations and Report; and also 
that the papers themselves were not authenticat- 
ed. I therefore ventured to address your Ma- 
jesty, upon these supposed defects in the com- 
munication, and humbly requested that the copies 
of the papers, which I then returned, might, after 
being examined, and authenticated, be again 
transmitted to me ; and that I might also be 
furnished with copies of the written Declarations 
so referred to in the Report. And my humble 
thanks are due for your Majesty's gracious com- 
pliance with my request. On the 29th of August 
I received, in consequence, the attested copies 
of those Declarations, and of a Narrative of His 
Royal Highness the Duke of Kent; and a few 
days after, on the 3d of September, the attested 
copies of the Examinations which were taken 
before the Commissioners. 



35 



The Papers which I have received are as follow : 

* The Narrative of His Royal Highness the 
Duke of Kent, dated 27th of December, 1805. 

A Copy of the written Declaration of Sir John 
and Lady Douglas, dated December 3, 1805. 

A Paper containing the written Declarations, 
or Examinations, of the persons hereafter enu- 
merated ; — The title to these Papers is, 

" For the purpose of confirming the Statement 
u made by Lady Douglas, of the circumstances 
?* mentioned in her Narrative, The following ex- 
" animations have been taken, and which have 
'• been signed by the several persons who have 
" been examined" — 

Two of Sarah Lampert ; — one, dated Chelten- 
ham, 8th January, 1806, — and the otl^er, 29th 
March, 1806. 

One of William Lampert, baker, 1 14, Chelten- 
ham, apparently of the same date with the last of 
Sarah Lam pen's. 

Four of William Cole, dated respectively, 1 1 th 
January 14th January, 30th January, and 23rd 
February, 1806. 

One of Robert Bidgood, dated Temple, 4th 
April, 1806. 

One of Sarah Bidgood, dated Temple, 23rd 
April, 1806; and 

One of Frances Lloyd, dated Temple, 12th 
May, 1806. 



See Appendix (B). 



36 



The other Papers and Documents which ac? 
companied the Report, are,* 

.J 805. No. 
29 May, 1. The King's Warrant or Commis^ 

sion. 
Deposition of Lady Douglas. 

of Sir John Douglas, 
of Robert Bidgood. 
of W. Cole, 
of Frances Lloyd, 
of Mary Wilson, 
of Samuel Roberts, 
of Thomas Stikeman. 
of J. Sicard. 
of Charlotte Sander, 
of Sophia Austin. 
Letter from Lord Spencer to 
Lord Gwydir. 
21 14. from Lord Gwydir to 

Lord Spencer. 
21 15. from Lady Willoughby to 

Lord Spencer. 
23 16\ Extract from Register of Brown- 

low-street Hospital. 
23 17. Deposition of Elizabeth Gosden. 

23 18. of Betty Townley. 

25 19. of Thomas Edmeades. 

25 20. of Samuel G. Mills. 

27 21. of Hariet Fitzgerald. 

1 July, 22. Letter from Lord Spencer to 
Lord Gwydir. 



1 June, 


2. 


1 


3. 


6 


4. 


6 


5. 


7 


6. 


7 


7. 


7 


8. 


7 


9. 


7 


10. 


7 


11. 


7 


12. 


20 


13. 



f See Appendix (A) 



37 



3 July, 23. 



3 



24. 



3 


25. 


3 


26. 


3 


27. 


4 


28. 



}6 



14 



29. 



30. 



Letter from Lord Gwydir to 

Lord Spencer, 

Queries to Lady Willougliby and 

Answers. 
Furtherdeposition of R.Bidgood. 

Deposition of Sir F. Millman. 

of Mrs. Lisle. 

Letter from Sir Francis Millman 

to the Lord Chancellor. 

Deposition of Lord Cholmon- 

deley. 

The Report. 

By the Copy which I have received of the 
Commission, or Warrant, under which the In- 
quiry has been prosecuted, it appears to bean in- 
strument under your Majesty's Sign Manual, not 
countersigned, notunder any seal. — It recites, that 
an Abstract of certain written Declarations, touch- 
ing my conduct (without specifying by whom those 
Declarations were made, or the nature of the mat- 
ters, touching which they had been made, or even 
by whom the Abstract had been prepared,) had 
been laid before your Majesty ; into the truth of 
which it purports to authorize the four noble 
Peers, who are named in it, to inquire and to ex- 
amine upon oath, such persons as they think fit ; 
and to report to your Majesty the result of their 
Examination. By referring to the written Decla- 
rations, it appears that they contain allegations 
against me, amounting to the charge of High Trea- 
son, and also other matters, which, if understood 



38 



to be, as they seem to have been acted and report* 
ed upon, by the Commissioners, not as evidence 
confirmatory (as they are expressed to be in their 
title) of the principal charge, but as distinct and 
substantive subjects of examination, cannot, as I 
am advised, be represented, as in law, amount- 
ing to crimes. How most of the Declarations 
referred to were collected, by whom, at whose so- 
licitation, under what sanction, and before what 
persons, magistrates or others, they were made, 
does not appear. By the title, indeed, which all 
the written Declarations, except Sir John and 
Lady Douglas's bear, viz. " That they had been 
taken for the purpose of confirming Lady Doug- 
las's Statement," it may be collected, that they 
had been made by her, or at least by Sir John 
Douglas's procurement. And the concluding pas- 
sage of one of them, I mean the fourth declara- 
tion of W. Cole, strengthens this opinion, as it re- 
presents Sir John Douglas, accompanied by his 
Solicitor Mr. Lowten, to have gone down as far 
as Cheltenham for the examination of two of 
the witnesses whose declarations are there stated. 
I am, however, at a loss to know, at this moment, 
whom I am to consider? or whom I could legally 
fix y as my false accuser. From the circumstance 
last mentioned, it might be inferred, that Sir John 
and Lady Douglas, or one of them, is that accuser. 
But Lady Douglas, in her written Declaration, so 
far from representing the information whieh she 
then gives, as moving voluntarily from herself, 



39 



expressly states that she gives it under the direct 
command of His Royal Highness the Prince of 
Wales, and the papers leave me without informa- 
tion, from whom any communication to the 
Prince originated, which induced him to give such 
commands. 

Upon the question, how far the advice is agree- 
able to law, under which it was recommended to 
your Majesty, to issue this Warrant or Commis- 
sion, not countersigned, nor under seal, and with- 
out any of your Majesty's advisers, therefore, 
being on the face of it, responsible for its issuing, I 
am not competent to determine. And undoubtedly 
considering that the two high legal authorities, the 
Lord Chancellor, and the Lord Chief Justice of 
the King's Bench, consented to act under it, it is 
with the greatest doubt and diffidence, that I can 
bring myself to express any suspicion of its illega- 
lity. But if it he, as I am given to understand it 
is, open to question,whether, consistently with law, 
your Majesty should have been advised to com- 
mand, by this warrant or commission, persons (not 
to act in any known character, as Secretaries of 
State, as Privy Counsellors, as Magistrates other- 
wise empowered; but to act as Commissioners, and 
under the sole authority of such warrant, to in* 
quire (without any authority to hear and deter- 
mine any thing upon the subject of those Inqui- 
ries), into the known crime of High Treason, 
under the sanction of oaths, to be administered by 
them, as such Commissioners, and to report the 
result thereof to your Majesty. If, I say, there 



40 



can be any question upon the legality of such & 
Warrant or Commission, the extreme hardship, 
with which, it has operated upon me* the extreme 
prejudice, which it has done to my character, and 
to which such a proceeding must ever expose the 
person who is the object of it, obliges me, till I 
am fully convinced of its legality, to forbear from 
acknowledging its authority ; and, with all hu- 
mility and deference to your Majesty, to protest 
against it, and against all the proceedings under it. 
If this, indeed, were matter of mere form, I 
should be ashamed to urge it. But the actual 
hardships and prejudice which I have suffered 
by this proceeding, are most obvious. For, 
upon the principal charge against me, the Com- 
missioners have most satisfactorily, and |C with- 
out the least hesitation," for such is their express 
sion, reported their opinion of its falsehood. 
Sir John and Lady Douglas, therefore, who have 
sworn to its truth, have been guilty of the plain- 
est falsehood , yet upon the supposition of the 
illegality of this Commission, their falsehood must 
as I am informed, go unpunished. Upon that 
supposition, the want of legal authority in the 
Commissioners to inquire and to administer an 
oath, will render it impossible to give to this false- 
hood the character of perjury. But this is by no 
means the circumstance which I feel the most 
severely. Beyond the vindicating of my own 
character, and the consideration of providing for 
my future security, I can assure your Majesty, 
tbat the punishment of Sir John and Lady Doug- 



41 



las would afford me no satisfaction. It is not 
therefore with regard to that part of the charge, 
which is negatived, but with respect to those, 
which are sanctioned by the Report, those, which, 
not aiming at my life, exhaust themselves upon 
my character, and which the Commissioners 
have, in some measure sanctioned by their Re- 
port, that I have the greatest reason to complain. 
Had the Report sanctioned the principal charge, 
constituting a known legal crime, my innocence 
would have emboldened me, at all risques, (and 
to more, no person has ever been exposed from 
the malice, and falsehood of accusers) to have 
demanded that trial, which could legally deter- 
mine upon the truth or falsehood of such charge. 
Though I should even then indeed have had some 
cause to complain, because I should have gone 
to that trial, under the prejudice, necessarily 
raised against me, by that Report; yet into a 
proceeding before the just, open, and known 
tribunals of your Majesty's kingdom, I should 
have had a safe appeal from the result of an ex 
parte investigation. An investigation which, has 
exposed me to all the hardships of a secret In- 
quiry, without giving me the benefit of a secrecy ; 
and to all the severe consequences of a public in- 
vestigation, in point of injury to my character, 
without affording me any of its substantial bene- 
fits, in point of security. But the charges, whicia 
the Commissioners do sanction by the Report^ 
describing them, with a mysterious obscurity aa<i 



42 



indefinite generality, constitute, as 1 am told, no 
legal crime. They are described as " instances of 
"great impropriety and indecency of behaviour" 
which must " occasion the most unfavourable in- 
terpretations" and they are reported to your Ma- 
jesty, and they are stated to be, " circumstances 
" which must be credited till they are decisively 
" contradicted." 

From this opinion, this judgment of the Com- 
missioners, bearing so hard upon my character; 
(and that a female character, how delicate, and 
how easily to be affected by the breath of calumny 
your Majesty well knows) I can have no appeal. 
For, as the charges constitute no legal crimes, they 
cannot be the subjects of any legal trial. I can 
call for no trial. I can therefore have no appeal ; 
I can look for no acquittal. Yet this opinion, or 
this judgment, from which I can have no appeal, 
has been pronounced against me upon mere ex par- 
te investigation. 

This hardship, Sire, I am told to ascribe to 
the nature of the proceeding under this Warrant or 
Commission ; For had the Inquiry been entered 
into before your Majesty's Privy Council, or 
before any magistrates, authorised by law as such, 
to inquire into the existence of treason, the known 
course of proceeding-before that council, or such 
magistrates, the known extent of their jurisdiction 
over crimes, and not over the proprieties of beha- 
viour, would have preserved me from the possi- 
bility of having matters made the subjects of in- 
quiry which had in law no substantive criminal 






43 



character, and from the extreme hardship of hav- 
ing my reputation injured by calumny altogether 
unfounded, but rendered at once more safe to my 
enemies, and more injurious to me, by being ut- 
tered, in the course of a proceeding, assuming the 
grave semblance^ of legal form. And it is by the 
nature of this proceeding, (which could alone have 
countenanced or admitted of this licentious latitude 
of inquiry, into the proprieties of behaviour in 
private life, with which no court, no magistrate, 
no public law has any. authority to interfere,) that 
I have been deprived of the benefit of that entire 
and unqualified acquittal and discharge from this 
accusation, to which the utter and proved false- 
hood of the accusation itself so justly entitled me. 

I trust therefore that your Majesty will see that 
if this proceeding is not one to which, by the 
known laws of your Majesty's kingdom, I ought 
to be subject, that it is no cold formal objection 
which leads me to protest against it. 

I am ready to acknowledge, Sire, from the 
consequences which might arise to the public, 
from such misconduct as hath baen falsely imput- 
ed to me, that my honour and virtue are of more 
importance to the state than those of other women. 
That my conduct therefore may be fitly subjected, 
when necessary to a severer scrutiny. But it 
cannot follow, because my character, is of more 
importance, that it may therefore be attacked with 
more impunity. And as I know, that this mis- 
chief has been pending over my head for more 



44 



than two years, that private examinations of my 
adghfoburs* servants, and of my own, have, at 
times, during that interval, been taken, for the 
purpose of establishing charges against me, not 
indeed by the instrumentality of Sir John and Lady 
Douglas alone, but by the sanction, and in the 
presence of The Earl of Moira (as your Majesty 
will perceive by the deposition of Jonathan Par- 
tridge which I subjoin ; # ) and as I know also, and 
make appear to your majesty likewise by the 
same means, that declarations of persons of un- 
questionable credit, respecting my conduct, attest- 
ing my innocence, and directly falsifying a most" 
important circumstance respecting my supposed 
pregnancy, mentioned in the declarations, on 
which the Inquiry was instituted ; as I know, 
I say, that those declarations, so favourable to me, 
appear to my infinite prejudice, not to have been 
communicated to your Majesty, when that Inquiry 
was commanded ; and as I know not how soon 
nor how often, proceedings against me may be 
meditated by my enemies, I take leave to express 
my humble trust, that, before any other proceed- 
ings may be had against me, (desirable as it may 
have been thought, that the Inquiry .should have 
been of the nature, which has, in this instance, 
obtained,) your Majesty would be graciously pleas- 
ed to require to be advised, whether my guilt, 
if I were guilty, could not be as effectually dis? 

* See the depositions at the end of this letter. 



45 



covered and punished, and my honour and inno- 
cence, if innocent, be more effectually secured and 
established by other more known and regular modes 
of proceeding. 

Having therefore, Sire, upon these grave rea- 
sons, ventured to submit, I trust without offence 
these considerations upon the nature of the Com., 
mission, and the proceedings under it, I will now 
proceed to observe upon the Report, and the Ex- 
aminations ; and, with your Majesty's permission, 
I will go through the whole matter, in that course 
which has been observed by the Report itself, and 
which an examination of the important matters that 
it contains, in the order in which it states them 
will naturally suggest. 

The Report, after referring to the Commission 
or Warrant under which their Lorships were act- 
ing, after stating that they had proceeded to exa- 
mine the several witnesses, whose depositions they 
annexed to their Report, proceeds to state the ef- 
fect of the written declarations, which the Com- 
missioners considered as the essential foundation of 
the whole proceeding. t( That they were state- 
ments which had been laid before his Royal High- 
ness the Prince of Wales, respecting the conduct 
of her Royal Highness the Princess ; that these 
statements not only imputed to Her Royal High- 
ness, great impropriety and indecency of behavi- 
our, but expressly asserted, partly on the ground 
of certain alleged declarations from the Princess's 
own mouth, and partly on the personal observation 



46 



of the informants, the following most important 
facts ; viz. that her Royal Highness had been 
pregnant in the year 1 802, in consequence of an 
illicit intercourse ; and that she had in the same 
year, been secretly delivered of a male child ; 
which child had ever since that period been brought 
up by her Royal Highness in her own house, and 
under her immediate inspection. These allega- 
tions thus made, had, as the Commissioners found, 
been followed by declarations from other persons, 
who had not indeed spoken to the important facts 
of the pregnancy or delivery of her Royal High- 
ness, but had related other particulars, in them- 
selves extremely suspicious, and still more so, when 
connected with the assertions already mentioned. 
The Report then states, that, in the painful situa- 
tion in which his Royal Highness was placed by 
these declarations, they learnt that he had adopted 
the only course which could, in their judgment, 
with propriety be followed, when informations such 
as these had been thus confidently alleged and 
particularly detailed, and had in some degree been 
supported by collateral evidence, applying to other 
points of the same nature (though going to a far less 
extent,) one line could only be pursued/' 

" Every sentiment of duty to your Majesty 
and of concern for the public welfare required that 
these particulars should not be withheld from your 
Majesty, to whom more particularly belonged the 
cognizance of a matter of state, so nearly touching 
the honour of your Majesty's Royal Family, and 



47 



fey possibility affecting the succession to your Ma~ 
jesty's crown." 

The Commissioners, therefore, your Majesty 
observes, going, they must permit me to say, a lit- 
tle out of their way, begin their Report, by express- 
ing a clear and decided opinion, that his Royal 
Highness was properly advised (for your Majesty 
will undoubtedly conclude, that, upon a subject of 
this importance, his Royal Highness could not but 
have acted by the advice of others,) in referring 
this complaint to your Majesty, for the purpose of 
its undergoing the investigation which has followed. 
And, unquestionably, if the charge referred to, in 
this Report, as made by Sir John and Lady Doug- 
las, had been presented under circumstances, in 
which any reasonable degree of credit could be 
given to them, or even it they had not been pre- 
sented in such a manner, as to impeach the credit 
of the informers, and to bear internal evidence Of 
their own incredibility, I should be the last person, 
who would be disposed to dispute the wisdom of 
the advice which led to make them the subject of 
the gravest and most anxious Inquiry. And your 
Majesty, acting upon a mere abstract of the de- 
clarations, which was all, that by the recital of the 
warrant, appears to have been laid before your Ma- 
jesty, undoubtedly could not but direct an Inquiry 
concerning my conduct. For though I have not 
been furnished with that abstract, yet I must pre- 
sume that it described the criminatory contents of 
these declarations, much in the same manner, as 



43 



they are stated in the Report. And the crimina- 
tory parts of these declarations, if viewed without 
reference to those traces of malice and resentment, 
with which the declarations* of Sir John and Lady 
Douglas abound ; if abstracted from all these cir- 
cumstances, which shew the extreme improbabi- 
lity of the story, the length of time which my ac- 
cusers had kept my alleged guilt concealed, the 
contradictions observable in the declarations of the 
other witnesses, all which I submit to your Majes- 
ty, are to an extent to cast the greatest discredit 
upon the truth of these declarations; — abstracted, I 
say, from these circumstances, the criminatory 
parts of them were unquestionably such, as to have 
placed your majesty under the necessity of directing 
some Inquiry concerning them. But that those, 
who had the opportunity of reading the long and 
malevolent narration of Sir John and Lady Doug- 
las, should not have hesitated before they gave any 
credit to it, is matter of the greatest astonishment 
to me. 

The improbability of the story, would of itself, 
I should have imagined (unless they believed me 
to be as insane as Lady Douglas insinuates,) have 
been sufficient to have staggered the belief of any 
unprejudiced mind. For to believe that story, they 
were to begin with believing that a person guilty of 
so foul a crime, so highly penal, so fatal to her ho- 
nour, her station, and her life, should gratuitously, 
and uselessly, have confessed it. Such a person 
undeAhe necessity of concealing her pregnancy, 
* See Appendix (B.) 



49 



might have been indispensably obliged to confide 
her secret with those, to whom she was to look for 
assistance in concealing its consequences. But 
Lady Douglas, by her own account, was informed, 
by me of this fact, for no purpose whatever. She 
makes me, as those who read her declarations can- 
not fail to have observed, state to her, that she 
should, on no account, be entrusted with any part 
of the management by which the birth was to be 
concealed.* They were to believe also, that, anxi- 
ous as I must have been to have concealed the birth 
of any such child, I had determined to bring it up 
in my own house ; and what would exceed, as I 
should imagine, the extent of all human credulity, 
that I had determined to suckle it myself :f that I 
had laid my plan, if discovered, to have imposed it 
upon his Royal Highness as his child. Nay, they 
were to believe, that I had stated, and that Lady 
Douglas had believed the statement to be true, that 
I had in fact attempted to suckle it, and only gave 
up that part of my plan, because it made me ner- 
vous, and was too much for my health. J And, after 
all this, they were then to believe, that having 
made Lady Douglas, thus unnecessarily, the confi- 
dante, of this most important and dangerous secret ; 
having thus put my character, and my life in her 
hands, 1 sought an occasion, wantonly, and with- 
out provocation, from the mere fickleness, and wil- 
fulness of my own mind, to quarrel with her, to in- 
sult her openly and violently in my own house, to 

♦ See Appendix (B) p. 6l. f Ibid. p. 6l. J Ibid. p. 7$. 
M 



50 



endeavour to ruin her reputation ; to expose her in 
infamous and indecent drawings enclosed in letters 
to her husband. The letters indeed are represented 
to have been anonymous, but, though anony- 
mous, they are stated to have been written with 
my own hand, so undisguised in penmanship and 
style, that every one who had the least acquaint- 
ance with either, could not fail to discover them, 
and, (as if it were through fear, lest it should not be 
sufficiently plain, from whom they came,) that I had 
sealed them with a seal, which I had shortly before 
used, on an occasion of writing to her husband. 
All this they were to believe upon the declaration 
of a person, who, with all that loyalty and attach- 
ment which she expresses to your Majesty, and his 
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales ; with all her 
obligation to the whole Royal Family, (to whom 
she expresses herself to be bound by ties of res- 
pectful regard and attachment which nothing can 
ever break ;) with all her dread of the mischievous 
consequences of the country, which might arise, 
from the disputed succession to the Crown, on the 
pretensions of an illigimate child of mine, never- 
theless continued, after this supposed avowal of 
my infamy, and my crime, after my supposed ac- 
knowledgment of the birth of this child, which was 
to occasion all this mischief, to preserve, for near a 
twelvemonth, her intimacy and apparent friendship 
with me. Nay for two years more, after that inti- 
macy had ceased, after that friendship had been 
broken off, by my alleged misbehaviour to her, 



51 



ontinued still faithful to my secret, and never dis- 
closed it till (as her declaration states it) " The 
" Princess* of Wales recommended a fresh torrent 
" of outrage against Sir John ; and Sir John disco- 
" vered that she was attempting to undermine his 
" and Lady Douglas's character." 

Those, then, who had the opportunity of seeing 
the whole of this Narrative, having had their jea- 
lousy awakened hy these circumstances to the im- 
probability of the story, and to the discredit of the 
informer, when they came to observe, how mali- 
ciously every circumstance that imagination could 
suggest, as most calculated to make a woman con- 
temptible and odious, was scraped and heaped up 
together in this Narrative, must surely have had 
their eyes opened to the motives of my accusers, 
and their minds cautioned against giving too easy 
a credit to their accusation, when they found my 
conversation to be represented as most loose, and 
infamous ; my mind uninstructed and unwilling to 
learn ; my language, with regard to your Majesty 
and the whole of your Royal Family, foully disre- 
spectful and offensive ; and all my manners and 
habits of life most disgusting, I should have flat- 
tered myself, that I could not have been, in cha- 
racter, so wholly unknown to them, but that they 
must have observed a spirit, and a colouring at 
least in this representation, which must have 
proved much more against the disposition, and 
character of the informers, and the quality of 
* See Appendix, p. 9. 



5% 



their information, than against the person who was 
the object of their charge. But when, in addition 
to all this, the Declaration states,* that I had, with 
respect to my unfortunate and calamitous separa- 
tion from His Royal Highness, stated that I had 
acknowledged myself to have been the aggressor, 
from the beginning, and myself alone ; and when 
it further states, that if any other woman had so 
played and sported with her husband's comfort and 
popularity, she would have been turned out of his 
house, or left alone in it, and have deservedly for- 
feited her place in society ; and further still, when 
alleging that I had once been desirous of procuring 
a separation from His Royal Highness, and had 
pressed former Chancellors to accomplish this pur- 
pose, it flippantly adds, that f " The Chancellor 
may now, perhaps, be able to grant her request." 
The malicious object of the whole must surely have 
been most obvious. 

For supposing these facts to have been all true ; 
supposing this infamous and libellous description of 
my character had been nothing but a correct and 
faithful representation of my vices, and my infamy, 
would it not have been natural to have asked why 
they were introduced into this Declaration? What 
effect could they have had upon the charge of 
crime, and of Adultery, which it was intended to 
establish ? If it was only, in execution of a pain- 
ful duty, which a sense of loyalty to your Majesty, 

v See Appendix, (B) p. 65. f Appendix (B) p. 59, the note. 



53 



and obedience to the commands of the Prince of 
Wales, at length reluctantly drew from them, why 
all this malicious accompaniment J* " His Royal 
Highness" indeed they say, "desired that they would 
communicate the whole circumstances of their ac- 
quaintance with me, from the day they first spoke 
with me till the present time ; a full detail of all that 
passed during our acquaintance." and " how they 
became known to me, it appearing to His Royal 
Highness, from the representation of his Royal 
Highness the Duke of Sussex, that His Majesty's 
dearest interests, and those of this country, were 
very deeply interested in the question," and " that 
he particularly commanded them to be very cir- 
cumstantial in their detail, respecting all they 
might know relative to the child that I affected to 
adopt." 

Rut from the whole of this it is sufficiently appa- 
rent, that the particularity of this detail was requir- 
ed, by his His Royal Highness, in respect of mat- 
ters connected with that question, in which the 
dearest interests of Your Majesty and this country 
were involved ; and not of circumstances which 
could have no bearing on those interests. If it had 
been therefore true, as I most solemnly protest it 
is not, that I had in the confidence of private con- 
versation, so far forgot all sense of decency, loyal- 
ty, and gratitude, as to have expressed myself with 
that disrespect of your Majesty which is imputed 

* See Appendix, p. 90. 



54 



to me ; — If I had been what I trust those who have 
lived with me, or ever have partaken of my society, 
would uot confirm, of a mind so uninformed and 
uncultivated, without education or talents, or with- 
out any desire of improving myself, incapable of 
employment, of a temper so furious and violent, 
as altogether to form a character, which no one 
could bear to live with, who had the means of liv- 
ing elsewhere ; — What possible progress would all 
this make towards proving that I was guilty of 
adultery ? These, and such like insinuations, as 
false as they are malicious, could never have proved 
crime in me, however manifestly they might display 
the malice of my accusers. 

Must it not, then, have occurred to any one, 
who had seen the whole of this Narrative, if the mo- 
tive of my accusers was, as they represent it, merely 
that of good patriots, of attached and loyal subjects, 
bound, in execution of a painful duty, imposed 
upon them by His Royal Highness the Prince of 
Wales, to disclose, in detail, all the facts which could 
establish my guilt, that these circumstances never 
would have made a part of their detail ? But on 
the other hand, if their object was to traduce me ; — 
if, falsely, attributing to his Royal Highness, sen- 
timents which could belong to no generous bosom, 
but measuring his nature by their own, they 
thought, vainly and wickedly, to ingratiate them- 
selves with him, by being the instruments of ac- 
complishing my ruin ;— if aiming at depriving me 
of my rank and station, or of driving me from this 



55 



•ountry, they determined ta bring forward a charge 
of Treason against me, which, though they knew 
in their consciences it was false, yet they might 
hope would serve at least as a cover, and a pre- 
tence, for such an imputation upon my character, 
as, rendering my life intolerable in this country, 
might drive me to seek a refuge in another ; — if, 
the better to effectuate this purpose, they had re- 
presented all my misfortunes as my faults, and my 
faults alone; drawn an odious and disgusting picture 
of me, to extinguish every sentiment of pity and 
compassion, which, in the generosity, not only of 
your Majesty's royal bosom, and of the members 
of your Royal Family, but of all the inhabitants 
of your kingdom, might arise to commiserate 
the unfortunate situation of a stranger, perse- 
cuted under a charge originating in their malice ; — 
if, for this, they flung out, that I had justly for- 
feited my station in society, and that a separation 
from my husband was, what I myself had once 
wished, and what the Chancellor might now, per- 
haps, procure for me ; — or, if in short, their object 
was to obtain my condemnation by prejudice, in 
flamed by falsehood, which never could be ob- 
tained by justice informed by truth, then the 
whole texture of the declaration is consistent, and 
it is well contrived and executed for its purpose. 
But it is strange, that its purpose should have 
escaped the detection of intelligent and impartial 
minds. There was enough, at least, to have made 
them pause before they gave such a degree of 



56 



credit to informations of this description, as to have 
made them the foundations of so important and 
detisive a step, as that of advising them to be laid 
before your Majesty. 

And, indeed, such seems to have been the effect 
which this declaration at first produced. Because 
if it had been believed ; the only thing to have been 
done (according to the judgment of the Commis- 
sioners,) would have been to have laid it immedi- 
ately before your Majesty, to whom, upon every 
principle of duty, the communication was due. But 
the declaration was made, on the 3rd of December, 
in the last year, and the communication was not 
made to your Majesty till the very end of May. 
And that interval appears to have been employed, 
in collecting those other additional declarations, 
which are referred to in the Report, and which your 
Majesty has likewise been pleased, by your gra- 
cious commands, to have communicated to me. 

These additional declarations do not, I submit, 
appear to furnish much additional reason for be- 
lieving the incredible story. They were taken in- 
deed* " for the purpose," (for they are so des- 
cried, this is the title which is prefixed to them 
in the authentic copies, with which I have been 
furnished,) " for the purpose of confirming the 
" statement made by Lady Douglas, of the cir- 
" cumstances mentioned in her narrative," and 
they are the examinations of two persons, who ap- 
pear to have formerly lived in the family of Sir 
John and Lady Douglas, and of several servants of 
* See Appendix (B) No. 3. ; " 4 



57 



my own ; they are filled with the hearsay details of 
other servants' declarations. And one of them, W. 
Cole, seems to have been examined over and over 
again. No less than four of his examinations are 
given, and some of these evidently refer to 
other examinations of his, which are not given at 
all. 

These, I submit to your Majesty, are rendered, 
from this marked circumstance, particularly unde- 
serving of credit ; because in the only instance in 
which the hearsay statement, related to one ser- 
vant, was followed by the examination of the other, 
who was stated to have made it, (I mean an instance 
in which Cole relates what he had heard said by 
F. Lloyd)* F. Lloyd does not appear to have said 
any such thing, or even to have heard what she is, 
by him, related to have said, and she relates the 
fact that she really did hear, stripped of all the 
particulars with which Cole had coloured it, and 
which alone made it in any degree deserving to be 
mentioned. Besides this, the parents of the child, 
which is ascribed to me by Lady Douglas, are 
plainly pointed out, and a clue is afforded, by which, 
if followed, it would have been as easy to have 
ascertained, that that child was no child of mine, 
(if indeed it ever had been seriously believed to be 
so) and to have proved whose child it was, before 
the appointment of the Commissioners, as it has 
been found to be afterwards. 



* Appeadix (B.) No. 3. 

I 



58 



So far, therefore, from concurring with the Com- 
missioners in approving the advice, under which 
His Royal Highness had acted, I conceive it to 
have been at least cruel and inconsiderate, to have 
advised the transmission of such a charge to your 
Majesty, till they had exhausted all the means 
which private inquiry could have afforded, to as- 
certain its falsehood or its truth. 

And when it appears that it was not thought 
necessary, upon the first statement of it, as the 
Commissioners seem to have imagined, forthwith to 
transmit it to your Majesty ; but it was retained 
for near six months, from the beginning of De- 
cember till near the end of May ; what is due to 
myself obliges me to state, that if there had but 
been, in that interval, half the industry employed 
to remove suspicions, which was exerted to raise 
them, there would never have existed a necessity 
for troubling your Majesty with this charge at all. 
I beg to be understood as imputing this solely to 
the advice given to his Royal Highness. He must, 
of necessity, have left the detail and the determina- 
tion upon this business to others. And it is evi- 
dent to me, from what I now know, that his Royal 
Highness was not fairly dealt with ; that material 
information was obtained, to disprove part of the 
case against me, which, not appearing in the decla- 
rations that were transmitted to your Majesty, I 
conclude was never communicated to his Royal 
Highness. 



*9 



Feeling, Sire, strongly, that I have much to 
complain of, that this foul charge should have been 
so readily credited to my great prejudice, as to 
have occasioned that advice to be given, which re- 
commended the transmission of it to your Majesty, 
(who, once formally in possession of it, could not 
fail to subject it to some inquiry. I have dwelt, 
perhaps, at a tedious length, in disputing the pro- 
priety of the Commissioner's judgment, in thus 
approving the course which was pursued. And, 
looking to the event, and all the circumstances 
connected with it, perhaps I have reason to re- 
joice that the Inquiry has taken place. For, if three 
years concealment of my supposed crime, could 
not impeach the credit of my accusers, three times 
that period might, perhaps, be thought to have left 
that credit still unimpaired. And, had the false 
charge been delayed till death had taken away the 
real parents of the child, which Lady Douglas 
charges to be mine ; if time had deprived me of 
those servants and attendants who have been able 
so fully to disprove the fact of my alleged preg- 
nancy, I know not where I could have found the 
means of disproving facts and charges, so falsely, 
so confidently, and positively sworn to, as those to 
which Lady Douglas has attested. 

Following, as I proposed, the course taken in 
the Report, I next come to that part of it, to which, 
unquestionably, I must recur with the greatest sa- 
tisfaction ; because it is that part, which so com- 



60 



pletely absolves me of every possibly suspicion, 
upon the two material charges, of pregnancy and 
childbirth. 

The Commissioners state in their Report,* that 
they began by examining " on oath the two prin- 
" cipal informants, Sir John and Lady Douglas, who 
" both positively swore, the former to his having 
" observed the fact of pregnancy, and the latter to 
" all the important particulars contained in her 
" former declaration, and above referred to.f 
" Their examinations are annexed to the Report, 
" and are circumstantial and positive." — The most 
material of " the allegations, into the truth of which 
" they had been directed to inquire, being thus far 
" supported by the oath of the parties from whom 
" they had proceeded," they state, " that they 
" felt it their duty to follow up the Inquiry by the 
" examination of fsuch other persons, as they 
" judged best able to afford them information, as 
" to the facts in question." " We thought it," 
they say, " beyond all doubt, that in this course 
" of Inquiry many particulars must be learnt which 
" would be necessarily conclusive on the truth or 
<c falsehood of these declarations. So many per- 
" sons must have been witnesses to the appear- 
" ances of an actual existing pregnancy, so many 
" circumstances must have been attendant upon 
" a real delivery, and difficulties so numerous and 
" insurmountable must have been involved in any 

J* See Rep. p. 6. t See Appendix (A.) p. 49. 



61 



n attempt to account for the infant in question, as 
" the child of another woman, if it had been, in 
" fact, the child of the Princess ; that we entertain- 
" ed a full and confident expectation of arriving at 
" complete proof, either in the affirmative, or 
" negative on this part of the subject." " This 
" expectation," they proceed to state, " was not 
" disappointed. We are happy to declare to 
* your Majesty, our perfect conviction that there 
(t is no foundation whatever for believing that the 
" child now with the Princess, is the child of Her 
" Royal Highness, or that she was delivered of 
" any child in the year 1802 ; nor has any thing 
" appeared to us which would warrant the belief 
" that she was pregnant in that year, or at any 
Ci other period within the compass of our in- 
" quiries." — They then proceed to refer to the 
circumstantial evidence, by which they state that 
it was proved that the child was, beyond all doubt, 
born in Brownlow-street Hospital, on 11th July, 
1 802, of the body of Sophia Austin, and brought 
to my house in the month of November following. 
— " Neither should we," they add, " be more 
" warranted in expressing any doubt respecting 
" the alleged pregnancy of the Princess, as stated 
" in the original declarations ; a fact so fully con- 
" tradicted, and by so many witnesses, to whom, 
" if true, it must, in various ways, have been 
" known, that we cannot think it entitled to the 
u smallest credit." Then, after stating that they 
have annexed the depositions from which they have 



62 



collected these opinions, they add — " We humbly 
l t offer to your Majesty our clear and unanimous 
"i judgment upon them, formed on full deliberation, 
" and pronounced without hesitation, on the result 
" of the whole Inquiry." 

These two most importaut facts, therefore, 
which are charged against me, being so fully, and 
satisfactorily, disposed of, by the unanimous and 
clear judgment of the Commissioners ; being so 
fully and completely disproved by the evidence 
which the Commissioners collected, I might, per- 
haps, in your Majesty's judgment, appear well jus- 
tified in passing them by without any observation 
of mine. — But though the observations which I 
shall make, shall be very few, yet I cannot forbear 
just dwelling upon this part of the case, for a few 
minutes ; because, if I do not much deceive myself, 
upon every principle which can govern the human 
mind, in the investigation of the truth of any charge, 
the fate of this part of the accusation must have 
decisive weight upon the determination of the re- 
mainder. — I, therefore, must beg to remark, that 
Sir John Douglas* swears to my having appeared, 
some time after our acquaintance had commenced, 
to be with child, and that one day I leaned on the 
sofa, and put my hand upon my stomach, and said, 
" Sir John, I shall never be Queen of England/' 
and he said, " Not if you don't deserve it," and I 
seemed angry at first. 

* See Appendix (A.) p. 8. 



63 



This conversation, I apprehend, if it has the 
least relation to the subject on which Sir John was 
examined, must be given for the purpose of insi- 
nuating that I made an allusion to my pregnancy, 
as if there was a sort of understanding between him 
and me upon the subject, and that he made me 
angry, by an expression which implied, that what 
I alluded to would forfeit my right to be Queen of 
England. — If this is not the meaning which Sir 
John intends to be annexed to this conversation, I 
am perfectly at a loss to conceive what he can in- 
tend it to convey. — Whether at any time, when I 
may have felt myself unwell, I may have used the 
expression, which he here imputes to me, my me- 
mory will not enable me, with the least degree of 
certainty, to state. The words themselves seem 
to me to be perfectly innocent ; and the action of 
laying my hand upon my breast, if occasioned by 
any sense of internal pain at the moment, neither 
unnatural, nor, as it appears to me, in any way 
censurable. But that I could have used these 
words, intending to convey to Sir John Douglas 
the meaning, which I suppose him to insinuate, 
surpasses all human credulity to believe. I could 
not, however, forbear to notice this passage in Sir 
John's examination, because it must serve to de- 
monstrate to your Majesty, how woVds in them- 
selves most innocent, are endeavoured to be tor- 
tured, by being brought into the context with his 
opinion of my pregnancy, to convey a meaning 
most contrary to that, which I could by possibility 



64 



have' intended to convey, but which it was neces- 
sary that he should impute to me, to give the better 
colour to this false accusation. 

As to Sir John Douglas, however, when he 
swears to the appearance of my pregnancy, he pos^ 
sibly might be only mistaken. Not that that mis- 
take will excuse or diminish the guilt of so scanda- 
lous a falsehood upon oath. But for Lady Douglas, 
there cannot be even such an excuse. Independent 
of all those extravagant confessions which she false- 
ly represents me to have made, she states, upon her 
own observation and knowledge, that I was preg- 
nant in the year 1802. Now, in the habits of in- 
tercourse and intimacy, with which I certainly did 
live with her, at that time, she could not be mis- 
taken as to that fact. It is impossible, therefore, 
that in swearing positively to that fact, which is so 
positively disproved, she can fail to appear to your 
Majesty to be wilfully and deliberately foresworn. 
As to the conversations which she asserts to have 
passed between us, I am well aware, that those 
who prefer her word to mine, will not be satisfied 
to disbelieve her upon my bare denial ; nor, per- 
haps, upon the improbability and extravagance of 
the supposed conversations themselves. But as to 
the facts of pregnancy and dellivery, which are 
proved to be false, in the words of the Report, 
" by so many witnesses, to whom, if true, they 
" must in various ways have been known," no 
person living can doubt that the crime of adultery 
and treason, as proved by those facts, has been at- 



65 



tempted to be fixed upon me, by the deliberate 
and wilful falsehood of this my most forward ac- 
cuser. And when it is once established, as it is, 
that my pregnancy and delivery are all Sir John and 
Lady Douglas's invention, I should imagine that 
my confessions of a pregnancy which never exist- 
ed ; my confession of a delivery which never took 
place ; my confession of having suckled a child 
which I never bore, will hardly be believed upon 
the credit of her testimony. The credit of Lady 
Douglas, therefore, being thus destroyed, I trust 
your Majesty will think that I ought to scorn to 
answer to any thing which her examination may 
contain, except so far as there may appear to be 
any additional and concurrent evidence to sup- 
port it. 

This brings me to the remaining part of the Re- 
port, which I read, I do assure your Majesty, with 
a degree of astonishment and surprise, that I know 
not how to express. How the Commissioners 
could, upon such evidence, from such witnesses, 
upon such an information, and in such an ex parte 
proceeding, before I had had the possibility of be- 
ing heard, not only suffer themselves to form such 
an opinion, but to report it to your Majesty, with 
all the weight and authority of their great names, I 
am perfectly at a loss to conceive. Their great 
official and judicial occupations, no doubt, pre- 
vented that full attention to the subject which it re- 
quired. But I am not surely without just grounds 
of complaint, if they proceeded to pronounce an 
opinion upon my character, without all that eonsa- 



66 



deration and attention, which the importance of it 
to the peace of your Majesty's mind, to the honour 
of your Royal Family, and the reputation of the 
Princess of Wales, seem, indispensably, to have 
demanded. 

In the part of the Report already referred to, 
the particulars of the charge, exclusive of those 
two important facts, which have been so satis- 
factorily disposed of, are, as I have already ob- 
served, variously described by the Commissioners ; 
as, " matters of great impropriety and indecency 
Ci of behaviour ;" as, " other particulars in them- 
" selves extremely suspicious, and still more so, 
" when connected with the assertions already 
u mentioned ;" and as " points of the same na- 
" ture, though coming to a much less extent." 
But they do not become the subject of particular 
attention in the Report, till after the Commission- 
ers had concluded that part of it, in which they 
give so decisive an opinion against the truth of the 
charge upon the two material facts. They then 
proceed to state — 

" That they cannot close their Report there/* 
much as they could wish it; that besides the alle- 
gations of the pregnancy and delivery of the Prin- 
cess, those declarations on the whole of which 
your Majesty had required their Inquiry and Re- 
port, contain other particulars respecting the 
conduct of Her Royal Highness, such as must, 
especially considering her exalted rank and sta- 
tion, necessarily give occassion to very unfavour- 
able interpretations. That from various deposi- 



67 



lions and proofs annexed to their Report, particu- 
larly from the examination of Robert Bidgood, 
W. Cole, F. Lloyd, and Mrs Lisle, several strong 
circumstances of this description, have been posi- 
tively sworn to, by witnesses, who cannot in the 
judgment of the Commissioners, be suspected of 
any unfavourable bias, and whose veracity in this 
respect, they had seen no ground to question." 
They then state that " on the precise bearing and 
effect of the facts, thus appearing, it is not for 
them to decide, these they submit to your Majes- 
ty's wisdom. But they conceive it to be their duty 
to report on this part of the Inquiry, as distinctly 
as on the former facts ; that as, on the one hand, 
the facts of pregnancy and delivery are, in their 
minds, satisfactorily disproved, so on the other hand 
they think, that the circumstances to which they 
now refer, particularly those stated to have pass- 
ed between Her Royal Highness and Captain 
Manby, must be credited until they shall re- 
ceive some decisive contradiction, and if true, 
are justly entitled to the most serious consider a- 
tion." 

Your Majesty will not fail to observe that the 
Commissioners have entered into the examination 
of this part of the case, and have reported upon it, 
not merely as evidence in confirmation of the 
charges of pregnancy and delivery, which they have 
completely negatived and disposed of, but as con- 
taining substantive matters of charge, in itself. — - 
That they consider it, indeed, as relating to points 
u of the same nature, but going to a much less 



68 



u extent/' not, therefore, as constituting actual 
crime, but as amounting to " improprieties and 
" indecencies of behaviour, aggravated by the ex- 
" alted rank which I hold," as " occasioning unfa- 
" vourable interpretations," and as " entitled to 
M the most serious consideration." And when 
they also state that it is not for them to decide on 
their precise bearing and effect, I think I am jus- 
tified in concluding that they could not class 
them under any known head of crime; as, in 
that case, upon their bearing and effect they would 
not have been fully competent to have pro- 
nounced. 

I have, to a degree, already stated to your 
Majesty, the unprecedented hardship to which I 
conceive myself to have been exposed, by this ex 
parte Inquiry into the decorum of my private con- 
duct. I have already stated the prejudice done 
to my character, by this recorded censure, from 
which I can have no appeal ; and I press these con- 
siderations no further upon your Majesty, at pre- 
sent, than to point out, in passing this part of the 
Report, the just foundations which it affords me 
for making the complaint. 

Your Majesty will also, I am persuaded, not fail 
to remark the strange obscurity and reserve, the 
mysterious darkness, with which the Report here 
expresses itself; and every one must feel how this 
aggravates the severity and cruelty of the censure, 
jby rendering it impossible distinctly and specifi- 
cally to meet it. The Commissioners state, indeed, 
that some things are proved against me, which 



69 



must be credited till they shall receive a decisive 
contradiction, but what those things are they do 
not state, They are " particulars and circumstan- 
" ces which, especially considering my exalted 
*' rank, must give occasion to the most unfavour- 
able interpretations. They are several strong 
" circumstances of this description," " they are, 
" if true, justly deserving of most serious consi- 
" deration," and they " must be credited till de- 
': cidedly contradicted." But what are these cir- 
cumstances ? What are these deeds without a 
name ? Was there ever a charge so framed ? 
Was ever any one put to answer any charge, and 
decidedly to contradict it, or submit to have it 
credited against him, which was conceived in such 
terms, without the means of ascertaining what these 
things are, except as conjecture may enable me to 
surmise, to what parts of the examinations of the 
four witnesses on whom they particularly rely, they 
attach the importance and the weight which seem to 
them to justify these dark and ambiguous censures 
on my conduct ? But such as they are, and whatever 
they may be, they must, your Majesty is told, be 
credited unless they are decidedly contradicted. 

Circumstances, respecting Captain Manby, 
indeed are particularized ; but referring to the 
depositions which apply to him, they contain 
much matter of opinion, of hearsay, of suspicion, 
Are these hearsays, are these opinions, are these 
suspicions, and conjectures of these witnesses, 
to be believed against me, unless decidedly con- 



70 



tradicted ? How can I decidedly contradict another 
person's opinion ? I may reason against its justice, 
but how can I contradict it ? Or how can I deci- 
dedly contradict any thing which is not precisely 
specified, nor distinctly known to me ? 

Your Majesty will also observe that the Report 
states that it is not for the Commissioners to decide 
upon the bearing and effect of these facts ; these are 
left for your Majesty's decision. But they add that 
if true, they are justly entitled to the most serious 
consideration. I cannot, Sire, but collect from 
these passages, an intimation that some further pro- 
ceedings may be meditated. And perhaps, if I 
acted with perfect prudence, seeing how much rea- 
son I have to fear, from the fabrications of falsehood 
I ought to have waited till I knew what course, 
civil, or criminal your Majesty might be advised 
to pursue before I offered any observations or an- 
swer. To this alternative however I am driven. 
I must either remain silent, and reserve my defence, 
leaving the imputation to operate most injuriously 
and fatally to my character; or I must, by entering 
into a defence against so extended a charge, expose 
myself with much greater hazard to any future at- 
tacks. But the fear of possible danger, to arise from 
the perverted interpretation of my answer, cannot 
induce me to acquiesce under the certain mischief 
of the unjust censure and judgment which stands 
against me, as it were, recorded in this Report. 
I shall therefore, at whatever hazard, proceed to 
submit to your majesty, in whose justice I have 



n 



the most satisfactory reliance, my answer and m » 
observations upon this part of the case. 

And here, Sire, I cannot forbear again presum- 
ing to state to Your Majesty, that it is not a little 
hard, that the Commissioners (who state, in the 
beginning of their Report, that certain particulars, 
in themselves, extremely suspicious, were, in the 
judgment, which they had formed upon them, be- 
fore they entered into the particulars of the Inquiry, 
rendered still more suspicious from being connnect- 
ed with the assertion of pregnancy and delivery,) 
should have made no observation upon the degree, 
in which that suspicion must be proportionably 
abated, when those assertions of pregnancy and 
delivery, have been completely falsified and dis- 
proved ; that they should make no remark upon the 
fact, that all the witnesses, (with the exception of 
Mrs. Lisle,) on whom they specifically rely, were, 
every one of them, brought forward by the prin- 
cipal informers, for the purpose of supporting the 
false statement of Lady Douglas ; that they are the 
witnesses therefore of persons, whom, after the 
complete falsification of their charge, I am justified 
in describing as conspirators, who have been detec- 
ted, in supporting their conspiracy by their own 
perjury. And surely where a conspiracy, to fix a 
charge upon an individual, has been plainly detect- 
ed, the witnesses of those who have been so detect- 
ed in that conspiracy, — witnesses that are brought 
forward to support this false charge, cannot stand 
otherwise than considerably affected in their credit, 



72 



by their connection with those who are detected \n 
that conspiracy. But instead of pointing out this 
circumstance, as calling, at least, for some degree 
of caution and reserve, in considering the testimony 
of these witnesses, the Report on the contrary, 
holds them up as worthy of particular credit, as 
witnesses, who, in the judgment of the Commis- 
sioners, cannot be suspected of unfavourable bias : 
whose veracity, in that respect, they have seen no 
ground to question ; and who must be credited till 
they receive some decided contradiction. 

Now, Sire, I feel the fullest confidence that I 
shall prove to your Majesty's most perfect satis- 
faction, that all of these witnesses (of course I 
still exclude Mrs. Lisle) are under the influence, 
and exhibit the symptoms of the most unfavoura- 
ble bias ; — that their veracity is, in every respect, 
to be doubted ; — and that they cannot, by any 
candid and attentive mind, be deemed worthy of 
the least degree of credit, upon this charge, your 
Majesty will easily conceive, how great my sur- 
prise and astonishment must have been, at this 
part of the Report. I am indeed a little at a loss 
to know, whether I understand the passage, which 
I have cited from the Report. <l The witnesses 
" in the judgment of the Commissioners are not 
<c to be suspected of unfavourable bias, and their 
" veracity in that respect they have seen no reason 
" to question/' What is meant by their having 
seen no reason to suspect their veracity in that 
respect f Do they mean, what the qualification 



73 



seems to imply, that they have seen reason to 
question it in other respects ? Is it meant to be 
insinuated that they saw reason to question their 
veracity, not in respect of an unfavourable bias, 
but of a bias in my favour ? I cannot impute to 
them ? such an insinuation, because I am satisfied 
that the Commissioners would never have intended 
to insinuate any thing so directly contrary to the 
truth. 

The witnesses specifically pointed out, as thus 
particularly deserving of credit, are fW. Cole, 
||R. Bidgood, f F. Lloyd, and JMrs. Lisle. With 
respect to Mrs. Lisle, I trust your Majesty will 
permit me to make my observations upon her 
examination, as distinctly and separately, as I 
possibly can, from the others. Because, as I ever 
had, and have now, as much as ever, the most 
perfect respect for Mrs. Lisle, I would avoid the 
possibility of having it imagined that such obser- 
vations, as I shall be under the absolute necessity 
of making, upon the other witnesses, could be in- 
tended, in any degree, to be applied to her. 

With respect to Cole, Bidgood, and Lloyd, 
they have all lived in their places, for a long time ; 
they had lived with his Royal Highness the 
Prince of Wales before he married, and were 

* Appendix (A.) No. 5. 

|| Appendix (A.) No. 4. 
t Appendix (A.) No. 6. 

t Appendix (A.) No. 27. 



74 



appointed by him to situations about me ; Cole 
and Lloyd immediately upon my marriage, and 
Bidgood very shortly afterwards. I know not 
whether from this circumstance they may consider 
themselves as not owing that undivided duty and 
regard to me, which servants of my own appoint- 
ment, might possibly have felt; [but if I knew 
nothing more of them than that they had consented 
to be voluntarily examined, for the purpose of 
supporting the statement of Lady Douglas on a 
charge so deeply affecting my honour, without 
communicating to me the fact of such examination, 
your Majesty would not, I am sure, be surprised to 
find, that I saw, in that circumstance alone, suffi- 
cient to raise some suspicions of an unfavourable 
bias. But when I find Cole, particularly, sub- 
mitting to this secret and voluntary examination 
against me, no less than four times, and when I 
found, during the pendency of this Inquiry before 
the Commissioners, that one of them, R. Bidgood, 
was so far connected, and in league, with Sir John 
and Lady Douglas, as to have communication 
with the latter, I thought I saw the proof of such 
decided hostility and confederacy against me, that 
I felt obliged to order the discontinuance of his 
attendance at my house till further orders. Of 
the real bias of their minds, however, with respect 
to me, your Majesty will be better able to judge 
from the consideration of their evidence. 

The imputations which I collect to be considered 
as cast upon me by these several witnesses, are too 



75 



great familiarity and intimacy with several gentle- 
men, — Sir Sidney Smith, Mr. Lawrence, Captain 
Manby, and I know not whether the same are not 
meant to be extended to Lord Hood, Mr. Chester, 
and Captain More. 

With your Majesty's permission, therefore, I 
will examine the depositions of the witnesses, as 
they respect these several gentlemen, in their order, 
keeping the evidence, which is applicable to each 
case, as distinct from the others as I can. 

And I will begin with those which respect Sir 
Sidney Smith, as he is the person first mentioned in 
the deposition of W. Cole. 

W. Cole says,* " that Sir Sidney Smith first 
visited at Montague House in 1802 ; that he 
observed that the Princess was too familiar with 
Sir Sidney Smith. One day, he thinks in Febru- 
ary, he (Cole) carried into the Blue Room to the 
Princess some sandwiches which she had order- 
ed, and was surprised to see that Sir Sidney was 
there. He must have come in from the Park. If 
he had been let in from Blackheath, he must have 
passed through the room in which he (Cole) was 
waiting. When he had left the sandwiches he 
returned, after some time, into the room, and 
Sir Sidney Smith was sitting very close to the 
Princess on the sofa; He (Cole) looked at her 
Royal Highness, she caught his eye, and saw that 

Appendix (A.) No. 5 



76 



he noticed the manner in which they were sitting 
together, they appeared both a little confused." 

R. Bidgood says also, in his deposition* on the 
6th of June, (for he was examined twice) " that 
it was early in 1802 that he first observed Sir Sid- 
ney Smith come to Montague House. He used 
to stay very late at night ; he had seen him early 
in the morning there ; about ten or eleven o'clock. 
He was at Sir John Douglas's and was in the ha- 
bit, as well as Sir John and Lady Douglas, of din- 
ing or having luncheon, or supping there every 
day. He saw Sir Sidney Smith one day in 1802 
in the Blue Room, about 1 1 o'clock in the morn* 
ing, which was full two hours before they expected 
ever to see company. He asked the servants why 
they did not let him know Sir Sidney Smith was 
there ; the footmen told him that they had let no 
person in. There was a private door to the Park, 
by which he might have come in if he had a key 
to it, and have got into the Blue Room without 
any of the servants perceiving him. And in his 
second deposition, taken on the 3rd of July, he 
says he lived at Montague House when Sir Sidney 
came. Her (the Princess's) manner with him ap- 
peared very familiar ; she appeared very attentive 
to him, but he did not suspect any thing further. 
Mrs. Lisle says that the Princess at one time 
appeared to like Sir John and Lady Douglas. 
" I have seen Sir Sidney Smith there very late in 
the evening, but not alone with the Princess. I 

* Appendix (A.) No. 4. 



have no reason to suspect he had a key of th« 
Park gate; I never heard of any body being found 
wandering about at Blackheath." 

Fanny Lloyd does not mention Sir Sidney Smith 
in her deposition. 

Upon the whole of this evidence then, which 
is the whole that respects Sir Sidney Smith, in any 
of these depositions (except some particular pas- 
sages in Cole's evidence which are so important 
as to require very particular and distinct state- 
ment) I would request your Majesty to understand 
that, with respect to the fact of Sir Sidney Smith's 
visiting frequently at Montague House, both with 
Sir John and Lady Douglas, and without them ; 
with respect to his being frequently there, at 
luncheon, dinner, and supper; and staying with 
the rest of the company till twelve, one o'clock, or 
even sometimes later, if these are some of the 
facts "which must give occasion to unfavourable 
" interpretations, and must be credited till they 
" are contradicted ;" they are facts, which I 
never can contradict, for they are perfectly true. 
And I trust it will imply the confession of no 
guilt, to admit that Sir Sidney Smith's conver- 
sation, his account of the various and extraordi- 
nary events, and heroic achievements in which 
he had been concerned, amused and interested 
me ; and the circumstance of his living so much 
with his friends, Sir John and Lady Douglas, in 
my neighbourhood on Blackheath, gave the 
opportunity of his increasing his acquaintance 
with me. 



?s 



It happened also that about this time I fitted up, 
as your Majesty may have observed, one of the 
rooms in my house after the fashion of a Turkish 
Tent. Sir Sidney furnished me with a pattern 
for it, in a drawing of the Tent of Murat Bey, 
which he had brought over with him from Egypt. 
And he taught me how to draw Egyptian 
Arabesques, which were necessary for the or- 
naments of the ceiling ; this may have occasion- 
ed, while that room was fitting up, several vi- 
sits, and possibly some, though I do not recol- 
lect them, as early in the morning as Mr. Bid- 
good mentions. I believe also that it has hap- 
pened more than once, that, walking with my 
ladies in the Park, we have met Sir Sidney 
Smith, and that he has come in, with us, through 
the gate from the Park. My ladies may have 
gone up to take off their cloaks, or to dress, and 
have left me alone with him ; and, at some one 
of these times, it may very possibly have hap- 
pened that Mr. Cole, and Mr. Bidgood may 
have seen him, when he has not come through 
the waiting-room, nor been let in by any of the 
footmen. But I solemnly declare to your Majesty, 
that I have not the least idea or belief that he ever 
had a key of the gate into the Park, or that he 
ever entered in or passed out, at that gate, except 
in company with myself and my ladies. As for 
the circumstance of my permitting him to be in 
the room alone with me ; if suffering a man to 
be so alone is evidence of guilt, from whence 
the Commisioners can draw any unfavourable 



79 



inference, I must leave them to draw it. For I 
cannot deny that it has happened, and happened 
frequently ; not only with Sir Sidney Smith, but 
with many, many others; gentlemen who have vi- 
sited me y tradesmen who have come to receive 
my orders ; masters whom I have had to instruct 
me, in painting, in music, in English, &c. that I 
have received them without any one being by. In 
short, I trust I am not confessing a crime, for un- 
questionably it is a truth, that I never had an idea 
that there was any thing wrong, or objectionable, 
in thus seeing men, in the morning, and I confi- 
dently believe your Majesty will see nothing in it, 
from which any guilt can be inferred. I feel cer- 
tain, that there is nothing immoral in the thing 
itself; and I have always understood, that it was 
perfectly customary and usual for ladies of the 
first rank, and the first character, in the country, 
to receive the visits of gentlemen in a morning, 
though they might be themselves alone at the 
time. But, if, in the opinions and fashions of 
this country, there should be more impropriety 
ascribed to it, than what it ever entered into my 
mind to conceive, I hope your Majesty, and every 
candid mind, will make allowance for the differ- 
ent notions which my foreign education, and fo- 
reign habits may have given me. 

But whatever character may belong to this prac- 
tice, it is not a practice which commenced after my 
leaving Carlton House. While there, and from 
my first arrival in thisconntry, I was accustomed, 
with the knowledge of His Royal Highness the 
Prince of Wales, and without his ever having 



80 



hinted to me the slightest disapprobation, to re- 
ceive lessons from various masters, for my amuse- 
ment, and improvement; I was attended by them 
frequently, from twelve o'clock to five in the af- 
ternoon ; — Mr. Atwood for music, Mr. GerTadiere 
for English, Mr. Toufronelli for paintiag, Mr. 
Tutoye for imitating marble, Mr. Elwes for the 
harp. I saw them all alone ; and indeed, if I were 
to see them at all, I could do no otherwise than 
see them alone. Miss Garth, who was then sub- 
governess to my daughter, lived, certainly, under 
the same roof with me, but she could not be 
spared from her duty and attendance on my 
daughter. I desired her sometimes to come 
down stairs, and read to me, during the time 
when I drew or painted, but my Lord Cholmon- 
dely informed me this could not be. I then re- 
quested that I might have one of my bed-cham- 
ber women to live constantly at Carlton House, 
that I might have her at call whenever I wanted 
her ; but I was answered that it was not custo- 
mary, that the attendants of the Royal Family 
should live with them in town; so that request 
coujd not be complied with. But, independent 
of this, I never concoived that it was offensive 
to the fashions and manners of the country to re- 
ceive gentlemen, who might call upon me in a 
morning, whether I had or had not any one with 
me ; and it never occurred to me to think that 
there was either impropriety or indecorum in it, at 
that time, nor in continuing the practice at Monta- 
gue House. But this has been confined to morning 



81 



visits, in no private apartments of my house, but 
in my drawing-room, where my ladies have, at all 
times, free access, and as they usually take their lun- 
cheon with me, except when they are engaged with 
visitors, or pursuits of their own, it could but rarely 
occur that I could be left with any gentleman alone 
for any length of time, unless there were something 
in the known and avowed business, which might 
occasion his waiting upon me, that would fully ac- 
count for the circumstance. 

I trust your Majesty will excuse the length at 
which I have dwelt upon this topic. I perceived, 
from the examinations, that it had been much in- 
quired after, and I felt it necessary to represent it 
in its true light. And the candour of your Majes- 
ty's mind will, I am confident, suggest that those 
who are the least conscious of intending guilt, are 
the least suspicious of having it imputed to them ; 
aud therefore that they do not think it necessary to 
guard themselves, at every turn, with witnesses to 
prove their innocence, fancying their character to 
be safe, as long as their conduct is innocent, and 
that guilt will not be imputed to them from actions 
quite indifferent. 

The deposition, however, of Mr. Cole is not 
confined to my being alone with Sir Sidney Smith. 
The circumstances in which he observed us toge- 
ther he particularizes, and states his opinion. He 
introduces, indeed, the whole of his evidence by 
saying that I was too familiar with Sir Sidney Smith 

M 



82 



but as I trust I am not yet so far degraded as to 
have my character decided by the opinion of Mr* 
Cole, I shall not comment upon that observation. 
He then proceeds to describe the scene which he 
observed on the day when he brought in the sand- 
wiches, which I trust your Majesty did not fail to 
notice, / had myself ordered to be brought in. 
For there is an obvious insinuation that Sir Sidney 
must have come in through the Park, and that 
there was great impropriety in his being alone with 
me. And at least the witness's own story proves, 
whatever impropriety there might be, in this cir- 
cumstance, that I was not conscious of it, nor meant 
to take advantage of his clandestine entry, from the 
Park, to conceal the fact from my servant's obser- 
vation. For if I had had such consciousness, or 
such meaning, I never could have ordered sand- 
wiches to have been brought in, or any other act to 
have been done, which must have brought myself 
under the notice of my servants, while I continued 
in a situation, which I thought improper, and wished 
to conceal. Any of the circumstances of this visit, 
to which this part of the deposition refers, my me- 
mory does not enable me in the least degree to par- 
ticularize and recal. Mr. Cole may have seen 
me sitting on the same sofa with Sir Sidney Smith. 
Nay, I have no doubt he must have seen me, over 
and over again, not only with Sir Sidney Smith, but 
with x>tber gentlemen, sitting upon the same sofa ; 
and I trust your Majesty will feel it the hardest thing 
imaginable, that I should be called upon to ac- 



83 



count what corner of a sofa I sat upon four years 
ago, and how close Sir Sidney Smith was sitting to 
me. I can only solemnly aver to your Majesty, 
that my conscience supplies me with the fullest 
means of confidently assuring you, that I never 
permitted Sir Sidney Smith to sit on any sofa with 
me in any manner, which, in my own judgment, was 
in the slightest degree offensive to the strictest pro- 
priety and decorum. In the judgment of many 
persons perhaps, a Princess of Wales should at no 
time forget the elevation of her rank, or descend in 
any degree to the familiarities and intimacies of 
private life. Under any circumstances, this would 
be a hard condition to be annexed to her situation. 
Under the circumstances, in which it has been my 
Miisfortune to have lost the necessary support to the 
dignity and station of a Princess of Wales, to have 
assumed and maintained an unbending dignity 
would have been impossible, and if possible, could 
hardly have been expected from me. 

After these observations, Sire, I must now re- 
quest your Majesty's attention to those written 
declarations which are mentioned in the Report, 
and which I shall never be able sufficiently to thank 
your Majesty for having condescended, in compli- 
ance with my earnest request, to order to be trans- 
mitted to me, From observations upon those de- 
clarations themselves, as well as upon comparing 
them with the depositions made before the Com- 
missioners, your Majesty will see the strongest 
reason for discrediting the testimony of W. Cole, 



84 



as well as others of these witnesses whose credit 
stands in the opinion of the Commissioners so un- 
impeachable. They supply important observations, 
even with respect to that part of Mr. Cole's evi- 
dence which I am now considering, though in no 
degree equal in importance to those which I shall 
afterwards have occasion to notice. 

Your Majesty will please to observe, that there 
are no less than four different examinations, or de- 
clarations of Mr. Cole. They are dated on the 
11th, 14th, and 30th of January, and on 23rd of 
February. In these four different declarations he 
twice mentions the circumstance of finding Sir Sid- 
ney Smith and myself on the sofa, and he mentions 
it not only in a different manner, at each of those 
times, but at both of them in a manner, which ma- 
terially differs from his deposition before the Com- 
missioners. In his declaration on the 1 1th of Janu- 
ary* he says, that he found us in so familiar a pos- 
ture, as to alarm him very much, which he express- 
ed by a start back and a look at the gentleman. 

In that dated on 22nd of February^ however 
(being asked, I suppose, as to that which he had 
dared to assert, of the familiar posture which had 
alarmed him so much,) he says, " there was nothing 
particular in our dress, position of legs, or arms, 
that was extraordinary ; he thought it improper 
that a single gentleman should be sitting quite close 
to a married lady on the sofa, and from that situa- 

* See x\ppendix (BO p. 98. 
f See Appendix (B.) p. 102. 



85 



tion, and former "observations ', he thought the thing 
improper. In this second account, therefore, your 
Majesty perceives he was obliged to bring in his 
former observations to help out the statement, in 
order to account for his having been so shocked 
with what he saw, as to express his alarm by 
" starting back." But, unfortunately, he accounts 
for it, as it seems to me at least, by the very cir- 
cumstance which would have induced him to have 
been less surprised, and consequently less startled 
by what lie saw ; for had his former observations 
been such as he insinuates, he would have been pre- 
pared the more to expect, and the less to be sur- 
prised at, what he pretends to have seen. 
. But your Majesty will observe, that in his depo- 
sition before the Commissioners,* (recollecting, 
perhaps, how awkwardly he had accounted for his 
starting in his former declaration,) he drops his 
starting altogether. Instead of looking at the gen- 
tleman only, he looked at us both ; that I caught his 
eye, and saw that he noticed the manner in which we 
were sitting ; and instead of his own starting, or any 
description of the manner in which he exhibited 
his own feelings, we are represented as both ap- 
pearing a little confused. Our confusion is a cir- 
cumstance, which, during his four declarations, 
which he made before the appointment of the four 
Commissioners, it never once occurred to him to 
recollect. And now he does recollect it, we ap- 
peared he says, " a little confused/' — A little con- 
fused !— The Princess of Wales detected in a situa- 
* Appendix (A.) p. 1 1. 



86 



tion such as to shock and alarm her servant, and so 
detected as to be sensible of her detection, and so 
conscious of the impropriety of the situation as to 
exhibit symptoms of confusion ; would not her con- 
fusion have been extreme? would it have been so 
little as to have slipped the memory of the witness 
who observed it, during his first four declarations, 
and at last to be recalled to his recollection in such 
a manner as to be represented in the faint and feeble 
way, in which he here describes it ? 

What weight your Majesty will ascribe to these 
differences in the accounts given by this witness, I 
cannot pretend to say. But I am ready to confess, 
that, probably, if there was nothing stronger of 
the same kind to be observed, in other parts of his 
testimony, the inference which would be drawn 
from them, would depend very much upon the 
opinion previously entertained of the witness. To 
me, who know many parts of his testimony to be 
absolutely false, and all the colouring given to it to 
be wholly from his own wicked and malicious in- 
vention, it appears plain, that these differences in 
his representations, are the unsteady, awkward, 
shuffles and prevarications of falsehood. — To those, 
if there are any such, who from preconceived pre- 
judices in his favour, or from any other circum- 
stances, think that his veracity is free from all sus- 
picion, satisfactory means of reconciling them may 
possibly occur. But before I have left Mr. Cole's 
examinations, your Majesty will find that they will 
have much more to account for, and much more 
to reconcile. 



87 



Mr. Cole's examination before the Commission- 
ers goes on thus: — " *A short time before this, 
" one night about twelve o'clock, I saw a man go 
" into the house from the Park, wrapt up in a 
" great coat. I did not give any alarm, for the 
" impression on my mind was, that it was not 
" a thief.*' When I read this passage, Sire, I 
could hardly believe my eyes ; when I found such a 
fact left in this dark state, without any further ex- 
planation, or without a trace in the examination, of 
any attempt to get it further explained. How he 
got this impression on his mind, that this was not 
a thief? Whom he believed it to be ? What part 
of the house he saw him enter ? If the drawing- 
room, or any part which I usually occupy, who 
was there at the time? Whether 1 was there? 
Whether alone, or with my Ladies ? or with other 
company ? Whether he told any body of the cir- 
cumstance at the time? or how long after ? Whom 
he told? Whether any inquiries were made in 
consequence ? These, and a thousand other ques- 
tions, with a view to have penetrated into the mys- 
tery of this strange story, and to have tried the 
credit of this witness, would, I should have thought, 
have occurred to any one ; but certainly must have 
occurred to persons so experienced, and so able 
in the examination of facts, and the trying of the 
credit of witnesses, as the two learned Lords un- 
questionably are, whom your Majesty took care 

* Appendix (A.) No, 5. 



88 



to have introduced into this Commission. They 
never could have permitted these unexplained and 
unsifted hints and insinuations to have had the 
weight and effect of proof. — But, unfortunately for 
me, the duties, probably, of their respective situa- 
tions prevented their attendance on the examina- 
tion of this, and on the first examination of another 
most important witness, Mr. Robert Bidgood — 
and surely your Majesty will permit me here, with- 
out offence, to complain, that it is not a little hard, 
that, when your Majesty had shewn your anxiety 
to have legal accuracy, and legal experience assist 
on this examination, the two most important wit- 
nesses, in whose examinations there is more mat- 
ter for unfavourable interpretation, than in all the 
rest put together, should have been examined with- 
out the benefit of this accuracy, and this experience. 
And I am the better justified in making this obser- 
vation, if what has been suggested to me is correct ; 
that, if it shall not be allowed that the power of ad- 
ministering an oath under this warrant or commis- 
sion is questionable, yet it can hardly be doubted, 
that it is most questionable whether, according to 
the terms or meaning of the warrant or commission 
as it constitutes no quorum, Lord Spencer and 
Lord Grenville could administer an oath, or act in 
the absence of the other Lords ; and if they could 
not, Mr. Cole's falsehood must be out of the reach 
of punishment. 

Returning then from this digression, will your 
Majesty permit me to ask, whether I am to under- 



$9 



Stand this fact, respecting the man in a great coat, 
to be one of those which must necessarily give oc- 
casion to the most unfavourable interpretations ? 
which must be credited till decidedly contradicted ? 
and which if true, deserve the most serious consi- 
deration ? The unfavourable interpretations which 
this fact may occasion, doubtless are, that this 
man was either Sir Sidney Smith, or some other 
paramour, who was admitted by me into my house 
in disguise at midnight, for the accomplishment of 
my wicked and adulterous purposes. And is it 
possible that your Majesty, is it possible that any 
candid mind can believe this fact, with the un- 
favourable interpretations which it occasions, on 
the relation of a servant, who for all that appears, 
mentions it for the first time, four years after the 
event took place; and who gives himself, this 
picture of his honesty and fidelity to a master, 
whom he has served so long, that he, whose nerves 
are of so moral a frame, that he starts at seeing a 
single man sitting at mid-day, in an open drawing- 
room, on the same sofa, with a married woman, 
permitted this disguised midnight adulterer, to ap- 
proach his master's bed, without taking any notice, 
without making any alarm, without offering any 
interruption. And why ? because (as he expressly 
states) he did not believe him to be a thief; and 
because (as he plainly insinuates) he did believe him 
to be an adulterer^ 

But what makes the manner in which the Com- 

N 



90 



missioners suffered this fact to remain so unex- 
plained, the more extraordinary is this ; Mr. Cole 
had in his original declaration of the* 1 1th of Ja- 
nuary, which was before the Commissioners, stated 
"" that one night, about twelve o'clock, he saw a 
person wrapped up in a great coat, go across the 
Park into {he gate to the Green House, and he 
verily believes it was Sir Sidney Smith." In his de- 
claration then, (when he was not upon oath) he 
ventures to state, " that he verily believes it was 
Sir Sidney Smith. " When he is upon his oath, in 
his deposition before the Commissioners, all that 
he ventures to swear is, c ' that he gave no alarm, 
because the impression upon his mind was, that it 
was not a thief." And the difference is most im- 
portant. "The impression upon his mind was, 
that it was not a thief! !" I believe him, and the 
impression upon my mind too is, that he knew it 
was not a thief — That he knew who it was — and 
that he knew it was no other than my watchman. 
What incident it is that he alludes to, I cannot pre- 
tend to know. But this I know, that if it refers to 
any man with whose proceedings I have the least 
acquaintance or privity, it must have been my 
watchman ;- who, if he executes my orders, nightly, 
and often in the night, goes his rounds, both inside 
and outside of my house. And this circumstance, 
which I should think would rather afford, to most 
minds, an inference that I was not preparing the 

Appendix (B) p. 9S. 



91 



way of planning facilities for secret midnight assig- 
nations, has, in my conscience, I believe, (if there 
is one word of truth in any part of this story, and 
the whole of it is not pure invention) afforded the 
handle, and suggested the idea, to this honest, trusty 
man, this witness, " who cannot be suspected of any 
unfavourable bias," " whose veracity in that re- 
spect the Commissioners saw no ground to ques- 
tion," and " who must be credited till he received 
decided contradiction ; ,, suggested, I say, the idea 
of the dark and vile insinuation contained in this 
part of his testimony. 

Whether I am right or wrong, however, in this 
conjecture, this appears to be evident, that his ex- 
amination is so left, that supposing an indictment 
for perjury or false swearing, would lie against any 
witness, examined by the Commissioners, and sup- 
posing this examination had been taken before the 
whole four. — If Mr. Cole was indicted for perjury, 
in respect to this part of his deposition, the proof 
that he did see the watchman, would necessarily 
acquit him ; would establish the truth of what he 
said, and rescue him from the punishment of per- 
jury, though it would at the same time prove the 
falsehood and injustice of the inference, and the 
insinuation, for the establishment of which alone the 
fact itself was sworn. 

Mr. Cole chooses further tb state, that he as- 
cribes his removal from Montague House to Lon- 
don, to the discovery he had made, and the notice 
he had taken of the improper situation of Sir Sid- 



92 



ney Smith with me upon the sofa. To this I can 
oppose little more than my own assertions, as my 
motives can only be known to myself. — But Mr. 
Cole was a very disagreeable servant to me ; he 
was a man, who, as I always conceived, had been 
educated above his station. He talked French, 
and was a musician, playing well on the violin.— ^- 
By these qualifications he had got admitted occasi- 
onally, into better company, and this probably led 
to that forward and obtrusive conduct, which I 
thought extremely offensive and impertinent in a 
servant. 1 had long been extremely displeased with 
him ; I had discovered, that when I went out he 
would come into my drawing-room, and play on 
my harpsichord, or sit there reading my books ; — 
and, in short, there was a forwardness which w r ould 
have led to my absolutely discharging him a long 
time before, if I had not made a sort of rule to my- 
self, to forbear, as long as possible, from removing 
any servant who had been placed about me by his 
Royal Highness. — Before Mr. Cole lived with the 
Prince, he had lived with the Duke of Devon- 
shire, and I had reason to believe that he carried to 
Devonshire House all the observations he could 
make at mine. For these various reasons, just 
before the Duke of Kent was about to go out of 
the kingdom, I requested his Royal Highness the 
Duke of Kent, who had been good enough to take 
the trouble of arranging many particulars in my 
establishment, to make the arrangement with re- 
spect to Mr. Cole ; which was to leave him in town 



9$ 



to wait upon me only when I went to Carlton 
House, and not to come to Montague House ex- 
cept when specially required. This arrangement, 
it seems, offended him. It certainly depriyed him 
of some perquisites which he had when living at 
Blackheath ; but upon the whole, as it left him so 
much more of his time at his own disposal, I should 
not have thought it had been much to his preju- 
dice. It seems, however, that he did not like it; 
and I must leave this part of the case with this one 
observation more — That your Majesty, I trust, 
will hardly believe, that, if Mr. Cole, had, by any 
accident, discovered any improper conduct of 
mine, towards Sir Sidney Smith, or any one else, 
the way which I should have taken to suppress his 
information, to close his mouth, would have been 
by immediately adopting an arrangement in my 
family, with regard to him, which was either pre* 
judicial or disagreeable to him : or that the way to 
remove him from the opportunity and the tempta- 
tion of betraying my secret, whether through levity 
or design, in the quarter where it would be most 
fatal to me that it should be known, was by making 
an arrangement which, while all his resentment 
and anger were fresh and warm about him, would 
place him frequently, nay, almost daily, at Carl- 
ton House; would place him precisely at that 
place, from whence, unquestionably, it must have 
been my interest to have kept him as far removed 
as possible. 

'J here is little or nothing in the examinations of 



94 



the other witnesses which is material for me to ob- 
serve upon, as far as respects this part of the case. 
It appears from them indeed, what I have had no 
difficulty in admitting, and have observed upon 
before, that Sir Sidney Smith was frequently at 
Montague House — that they have known him to 
be alone with me in the morning, but that they 
never knew him alone with me in an evening, or 
staying later than my company or the ladies — for 
what Mr. Stikeman says, with respect to his being 
alone with me in an evening, can only mean, and 
is only reconcileable with all the rest of the evi- 
dence on this part of the case, by its being under- 
stood to mean alone, in respect of other company, 
but not alone, in the absence of my Ladies. The 
deposition indeed of my servant, S. Roberts, 
is thus far material upon that point, that it exhibits 
Mr. Cole, nat less than three years ago, endea- 
vouring to collect evidence upon these points to my 
prejudice. — For Your Majesty will find that he 
says, " I recollect Mr. Cole* once asking me, I 
" think three years ago, whether there were any 
" favourites in the family. I remember saying, 
" that Captain Manby and Sir Sidney Smith were 
" frequently at Blackheath, and dined there 
'" oftener than other persons." He then pro- 
" ceeds — ■" I never knew Sir Sidney Smith stay 
*' later than the Ladies ; I cannot exactly say at 
*' what time he went, but 1 never remember his 
"s t aying alone with the Princess." 
As to what is contained in the written declara- 
, * See Appendix (A) No. 8, 



9*- 



tions of Mr. and Mrs. Lampert, the old servants 
of Sir John and Lady Douglas (as from some cir- 
cumstances or other respecting, I conceive, either 
their credit or their supposed importance) the 
Commissioners have not thought proper to exa- 
mine them upon their oaths,* I do not imagine 
Your Majesty would expect that I should take any 
notice of them. And as to what is deposed by my 
Lady Douglas, if your Majesty will observe the 
gross and horrid indecencies with which she ushers 
in, and states my confessions to her, of my asserted 
criminal intercourse with Sir Sidney Smith, Your 
Majesty, I am confident, will not be surprised that 
I do not descend to any particular observations on 
her deposition. — One, and one only observation will 
I make, which, however, could not have escaped 
Your Majesty, if I had omitted it. — -That Your 
Majesty will have an excellent portraiture of the 
true female delicacy and purity of my Lady Dou- 
glas's mind, and character, when you will observe 
that she seems wholly insensible that what a sink of 
infamy she degrades herself by her testimony 
against me. It is not pnly that it appears, from her 
^statement, that she was contented to live, in fami- 
liarity and apparent friendship with me, after the 
confession which I made of my adultery (for by the 
indulgence and liberality, as it is called, of modern 
manners, the company of adulteresses has ceased 
to reflect that discredit upon the characters of other 

* For the same reason they are not printed in Appendix (B). 



$6 



women who admit of their society, which the best 
interests of female virtue may, perhaps, require.) 
But she was contented to live in familiarity with a 
woman, who, if Lady Doughs 's evidence of me is 
true, was a most low, vulgar, and profligate dis- 
grace to her sex. The grossness of whose ideas 
and conversation, would add infamy to the lowest, 
most vulgar, and most infamous prostitute. It is not, 
however, upon this circumstance, that I rest as- 
sured no reliance can be placed on Lady Douglas's 
testimony ; but after what is proved, with regard 
to her evidence respecting my pregnancy and deli- 
very in 1802, I am certain that any observations 
upon her testimony, or her veracity, must be flung 
away. 

Your Majesty has therefore now before you the 
state of the charge against me, as far as it respects 
Sir Sidney Smith. And this is, as I understand 
the Report, one of the charges which, with its un- 
favourable interpretations, must, in the opinion of 
the Commissionei*s, be credited till decidedly con- 
tradicted. 

As to the facts of frequent visiting on terms of 
great intimacy, as I have said before, they cannot 
be contradicted at all. How inferences and un- 
favourable interpretations are to be decidedly con- 
tradicted, I wish the Commissioners had been so 
good as to explain. I know of no possible way 
but by the declarations of myself and Sir Sidney 
Smith. Yet we being the supposed guilty parties, 
our denial, probably, will be thought of no great 



97 



weight* As* to my own, however, I tender it to 
your Majesty, in the most solemn manner, and if 
I knew what fact it was that I ought to contradict, 
to clear my innocence, I would precisely address 
myself to that fact, as I am confident, my con- 
science would enable me to do, to any, from which 
a criuiinal or an unbecoming inference could be 
drawn. I am sure, however, your Majesty will 
feel for the humiliated and degraded situation, to 
which this Report has reduced your Daughter-in- 
law, the Princess of Wales ; when you see her 
reduced to the necessity of either risking the dan- 
ger, that the most unfavourable interpretations 
should be credited ; or else of stating, as I am now 
degraded to the necessity of stating, that not only 
no adulterous or criminal, but no indecent or im- 
proper intercourse whatever, ever subsisted be- 
tween Sir Sidney Smith and myself, or any thing 
which I should have objected that all the world 
should have seen. I say degraded to the necessity 
of stating it ; for your Majesty must feel that a 
woman's character is degraded when it is put upon 
her to make such statement, at the peril of the 
contrary being credited, unless she decidedly con- 
tradicts it. Sir Sidney Smith's absence from the 
country prevents my calling upon him to attest 
the same truth. But I trust when your Majesty 
shall find, as you will fmd, that my declaration to 
a similar effect, with respect to the other gentle- 
men referred to in this Report, is confirmed by 



s* 



their denial, that your Majesty will think that i» 
a case, where nothing but my own word can be 
adduced, my own word alone may be opposed to 
whatever little remains of credit or weight may, 
after all the above observations, be supposed yet to 
belong to Mr. Cole, to his inferences, his insinua- 
tions, or his facts. Not indeed that I have yet fin- 
ished my observations on Mr. Cole's credit; but I 
must reserve the remainder, till I consider his evi- 
dence with respect to Mr. Lawrence ; and till I 
have occasion to comment upon the testimony of 
Fanny Lloyd. Then, indeed, I shall be under the 
necessity of exhibiting to your Majesty these wit- 
nesses, Fanny Lloyd and Mr. Cole, (both of whom 
are represented as so unbiassed, and so credible,) 
in fla?, decisive, and irreconcilcable contradiction to 
each other. 

The next person, with whom my improper in- 
timacy is insinuated, is Mr. Lawrence the painter. 

The principal witness on this charge is also Mr. 
Cole. Mr. R. Bidgood says nothing about him. 
Fanny Lloyd says nothing about him ; and all that 
Mrs. Lisle says is perfectly true, and I am neither 
able, nor feel interested, to contradict it. " That 
she remembers my sitting to Mr. Lawrence for 
my picture at Blackheath ; and in London ; that 
she has left me at his house in town with him, but 
she thinks Mrs. Fitzgerald was with us ; and that 
she thinks I sat alone with him at Blackheath." But 
Mr, Cole speaks of Mr. Lawrence in a manner that 



99 



^calls for particular observation. He says* " Mr, 
Lawrence the painter used to go to Montague 
House about the latter end of 1801, when he was 
painting the Princess, and he has slept in the house 
two or three nights together. I have often seen 
him alone with the Princess at 11 or 12 o'clock at 
night. He has been there as late as one and two 
o'clock in the morning. One night I saw him 
with the Princess in the Blue Room, after the 
ladies had retired. Some time afterwards, when 
I supposed he had gone to his room, I went to see 
that all was safe, and I found the Blue Room 
door\U>cked, and heard a zvhispering in it ; and I 
went away. 1 ' Here, again, your Majesty ob- 
serves, that Mr. Cole deals his deadliest blows 
against my character by insinuation. And here, 
again, bis insinuation is left unsifted and unex- 
plained. I here understand him to insinuate that, 
though he supposed Mr. Lawrence to have gone to 
his room, he was still where he had said he last left 
him ; and that the locked door prevented him from 
seeing me and Mr. Lawrence alone together, 
whose whispering, however, he, notwithstanding 
overheard. 

Before, Sire, I come to my own explanation of the 
fact of Mr. Lawrence's sleeping at Montague House, 
I must again refer to Mr. Cole's original declara- 
tions. 1 must again examine Mr. Cole, against 
Mr. Cole; which I cannot help lamenting it does 

* Appendix (A.) No. S. 



ice 



aot seem to have occurred to others to have done ; 
its I am persuaded if it had, his prevarications, and 
his falsehood, could never have escaped them. They 
would then have been able to have traced, as your 
Majesty will now do, through my observations, 
by what degrees he hardened himself up to the in- 
famy (for I can use no other expression) of stating 
this fact, by which he means to insinuate that he 
heard me and Mr. Lawrence, locked up in this 
Blue Room, whispering together, and alone. I am 
sorry to be obliged to drag your Majesty through 
so long a detail ; but 1 am confident your Majesty's 
goodness, and love of justice, will excuse it, as it is 
essential to the vindication of my character, as well 
as to the illustration of Mr. Cole's. 

Mr. Cole's examination, as contained in his first 
written declaration of the 1 lth of January, has no- 
thing of this. I mean not to say that it has nothing 
concerning Mr. Lawrence, for it has much, which is 
calculated to occasion unfavourable interpretations, 
and given with a view to that object. But that 
circumstance, as I submit to your Majesty, increases 
£he weight of my observation. Had there been 
nothing in his first declaration about Mr. Lawrence 
at ail, it might have been imagined that perhaps 
Mr. Lawrence escaped his recollection altogether; 
or that his declaration had been solely directed to 
other persons ; but as it does contain observations 
respecting Mr. Lawrence, but nothing of a locked 
door, or the whispering within it; — how he happened 
at that time not to recollect, or if he recollected. 



101 



fciot to mention so very striking and remarkable a 
circumstance, is not, I should imagine, very satis- 
factorily to be explained. His statement in that* 
first declaration stands thus, " In 1801, Lawrence 
" the painter was at Montague House, for four 
" or five days at a time, painting the Princess's 
# picture. That he was frequently alone late in 
" the night with the Princess, and much suspicion 
" was entertained of him." Mr. Cole's nextf de- 
claration, at least the next which appears among the 
written declarations, was taken on the 14th of Jan- 
uary ; it does not mention Mr. Lawrence's name, 
but it has this passage. " When Mr. Cole found 
the drawing-room, which led to the staircase to the 
Princess's apartments, locked (which your Majesty 
knows is the same which the witnesses call the 
Blue Room,) he does not know whether any person 
was with her ; but it appeared odd to him, as he 
had formed some suspicions." The striking and 
important observation on this passage is, that when 
he first talks of the door of the drawing-room being 
locked, so far from his mentioning anv thins of 
whispering being overheard, he expressly says, that 
he did not know that any body was with me. The 
passage is likewise deserving your Majesty's most 
serious consideration on another ground. For it is 
one of those which shews that Mr. Cole, though we 
have four separate declarations made by him, has 
certainly made other statements which have not 

* See Appendix (B.) p. 100. t Appendix (B.) p. 100 ? 



102 



been transmitted to your Majesty ; for it evidently 
refers to something, which he had said before, of hav- 
ing found the drawing-room door locked, and no 
trace of such a statement is di3coverable in the 
previous axamination of Mr. ( ole, as I have re- 
ceived it, and I have no doubt that, in obedience to 
your Majesty's commands, I have at length been 
furnished with the whole. I don't know, indeed, 
that it should he matter of complaint from me, that 
your Majesty has not been furnished with all the 
statements of Mr. Cole, because from the sample I 
see of them, I cannot suppose that any of them 
could have furnished any thing favourable to me, 
except indeed that they might have furnished me 
with fresh means of contradicting him by himself. 

But your Majesty will see that there have been 
other statements not communicated; a circumstance 
of which both your Majesty and I have reason to 
complain. But it may be out of its place further 
to notice that fact at present. 

To return therefore to Mr, Cole ; — in his third* 
declaration, dated the 30th of January, there is not 
a word about Mr. Lawrence. In his fourth and 
last,t which is dated on the 23rd of February, he 
says, " the person who was alone with the lady at 
* late hours of the night (twelve and ope o'clock,) 
" and whom he left sitting up after he went to bed, 
" was Mr. Lawrence, which happened two diffe- 
" rent nights." Here is likewise another trace of 

* Appendix, (B) p. 102. t Appendix (B) p. JOS. 



103 



a former statement which is not given ; for no such 
person is mentionod before in any that I have been 
furnished with. 

Your Majesty then here observes that, after hav- 
ing given evidence in two of his declarations, res- 
pecting Mr. Lawrence by name, in which he men- 
tions nothing of locked doors, — and after having, in 
another declaration, given an account of a locked 
door, but expressly stated that he knew not whether 
any one was with me within it, and said nothing 
about whispering being overheard, but, impliedly, 
at least, negatived it; — in the deposition before the 
Commissioners, he puts all these things together, 
and has the hardihood to add to them that remark- 
able circumstance, which could not have escaped his 
recollection, at the first, if it had been true, " of his 
" having, on the same night in which he found me 
ci and Mr. Lawrence alone, after the ladies were 
" gone to bed, come again to the room when he 
" thought Mr. Lawrence must have been retired, 
" and found the door locked and heard the whisper- 
" ing ;" and then again he gives another instance 
of his honesty, and upon the same principle on which 
he took no notice of the man in the great coat, he 
finds the door locked, hears the whispering, and 
then he silently and contentedly retires. 

And this witness, who thus not only varies in his 
testimony, but contradicts himself in such impor- 
tant particulars, is one of those who cannot be sus- 
pected of unfavourable bias, and whose veracity is 



104 



fcot to be questioned, and whose evidence must be 
credited till decidedly contradicted. 

These observations might probably be deemed 
sufficient upon Mr. Cole's deposition, as far as it 
respects Mr. Lawrence; but I cannot be satisfied 
without explaining to your Majesty, all the truth, 
and the particulars respecting Mr. Lawrence, which 
I recollect. 

What I recollect then is as follows. He began a 
large picture of me, and of my daughter, towards 
the latter end of the year 3 800, or the beginning of 
180K Miss Garth and Miss Hayman were in the 
house with me at the time. The picture was paint- 
ed at Montague House. Mr. Lawrence mentioned 
to Miss Hayman his wish to be permitted to re- 
main some few nights in the house, that by rising 
early he might begin painting on the picture, be- 
fore Princess Charlotte (whose residence being at 
that time at Shooter's Hill was enabled to come 
early,) or myself, came to sit. It was a similar re- 
quest to that which had been made by Sir William 
Beechy, when he painted my picture. And I was 
sensible of no impropriety when I granted the re- 
quest to either of them. Mr. Lawrence occupied 
the .same room which had been occupied by Sir 
William Beechy ; — it was at the other end of the 
house from my apartment. 

At that time Mr. Lawrence did not dine with 
me ; bis dinner was served in his own room. — After 
dinner he came down to the room where I and my 
Ladies generally sat in an evening — sometimes 



105 



there was music, in which he joined, and some- 
times he read poetry. Parts of Shakespeare's plays 
I particularly remember, from his reading them 
very well; and sometimes he played chess with me. 
It frequently may have happened that it was one or 
two o'clock before I dismissed Mr. Lawrence and 
my Ladies. They, together with Mr. Lawrence, 
went out of the same door, up the same stair-case, 
and at the same time. According to my own recol- 
lection I should have said, that, in no one in- 
stance, they had left Mr. Lawrence behind them, 
alone with me. — But I suppose it did happen once 
for a short time, since Mr. Lawrence so recollecU 
it, as your Majesty will perceive from his deposi- 
tion, which I annex. He staid in my house two or 
three nights together ; but how many nights in the 
whole, I do not recollect. The picture left my 
house by April, 1801, and Mr. Lawrence never 
slept in my house afterwards. That picture now 
belongs to Lady Townshend. He has since com- 
pleted another picture of me ; and, about a year 
and a half ago, he began another, which remains 
at present unfinished. I believe it is near a 
twelvemonth since I last sat to him. 

Mr. Lawrence lives upon a footing of the great- 
est intimacy with the neighbouring families of Mr. 
Lock and Mr. Angerstein ; and I have asked hira 
sometimes to dine with me to meet them. While 
I was sitting to him, at my own house, I have no 
doubt I must have often sat to him alone; as the 



106 



necessity for the precaution of having an atten- 
dant, as a witness to protect my honour from sus- 
picion certainly never occurred to me. And upon 
the same principle, I do not doubt that I may 
have sometimes continued in conversation with 
him after he had finished painting. But when 
sitting in his own house, I have always been at- 
tended with one of my Ladies. — And indeed no- 
thing in the examinations state the contrary. One 
part of Mrs. Lisle's examination seems as if she 
had had a question put to her, upon the supposi- 
tion that I had been left alone with Mr. Law- 
rence at his own house ; to which she answers, 
tli t she indeed had left me tkere, but that she 
thinks she left Mrs. Fitzgerald with me. 

If an inference of an unfavourable nature could 
have been drawn frorri my having been left there 
alone ; — was it, Sire, taking all that care which 
might be wished, to guard against such an infer- 
ence, on the part of the Commissioners, when they 
oinnted to send for Mrs Fitzgerald to ascertain 
what Mrs. Lisle may have left in doubt. The Com- 
missioners, I give them the fullest credit, were sa- 
tisfied, that Mrs. Lisle thought correctly upon this 
fact, and that Mrs. Fitzgerald, if she had been 
sent for again, would so have proved it, and there- 
fore that it would have been troubling her to no 
purpose. But this it is, of which I conceive myself 
to ha»e most reason to complain ; — that the exa- 
ran ion in several instances, have not been fol- 
io >vfcu up so as toaxHiiove unfavourable impressions. 



107 



I cannot but feel satisfied that the Commission- 
's would have been ^lad to have been warranted 
in negativing ail criminality, and all suspicion on 
this part of the charge, as completely, and ho- 
nourably as they have done on the principal 
charges of pregnancy and delivery. They traced 
that part of the charge with ability, sagacity, dili- 
gence, and perseverance; and the result was com- 
plete satisfaction of my innocence ; complete de- 
tection of the falsehood of my accusers. Encou- 
raged by their success in that part of theirlnquiry, 
I lament that they did not, (as they thought pro- 
per to enter into the other part of it at all,) with 
similar industry pursue it. If they had, I am con- 
fident they would have pursued it with the same 
success ; but though they had convicted Sir John 
and Lady Douglas of falsehood, they seem to have 
thought it impossible to suspect of the same false 
hood, any other of the witnesses, though produced 
by SirJohn and Lady Douglas. The most obvious 
means, therefore, of trying their credit, by com- 
paring their evidence with what they had said be- 
fore, seems to me to have been omitted. Many 
facts are left upon surmise only and insinuation; 
obvious means of getting further information on 
doubtful and suspicious circumstances are not re- 
sorted to ; and, as if the important master of the 
Inquiry (on which a satisfactory conclusion had 
been formed) was all that required any very atten- 
tive or accurate consideration ; the remainder of 
it was pursued in a manner which, as it seems to 
me, can only be accounted for by the pressure of 



108 



what may have been deemed more important du- 
ties* — and of this I should have made but little 
complaint, if this Inquiry, where it is imperfect, 
had not been followed by a Report, which the 
most accurate only could have justified, and 
which such an accurate Inquiry, I am confident, 
never could have produced. 

If any credit was given to Mr. Cole's story of 
the locked door, and the whispering; and to Mr. 
Lawrence having been left with n\e so frequently 
of a night when my ladies had left us, why were 
not ail my ladies examined ? why were not all my 
servants examined as to their knowledge of that 
fact ? And if they had been so examined, and had 
contradicted the fact so sworn to by Mr, Cole, as 
they must have done, had they been examined to 
it ; that alone would have been sufficient to have 
removed his name from the list of unsuspected and 
unquestionable witnesses, and relieved me from 
much of the suspicion which his evidence, till it 
was examined, was calculated to have raised in 
your Majesty's mind.— And to close this state- 
ment, and these observations and in addition to 
them, — I most solemnly assert to your Majesty, 
that Mr. Lawrence, neither at his own house, nor 
at mine, nor any where else, ever was for one mo- 
ment, by night or by day, in the same room with 
me when the door of it was locked $ that he never 
was in my company of an evening alone, except 
the momentary conversation which Mr. Lawrence 
speaks to, may be thought an exception; and that 



109 



nothing ever passed between him and mc which 
all the world might not have witnessed. And, 
Sire, I have subjoined a deposition to the same 
effect from Mr. Lawrence. 

To satisfy myself, therefore, and your Majesty, 
I have shewn, I trust, by unanswerable observa- 
tions and arguments, that there is no colour for 
crediting Mr. Cole, or, consequently, any part of 
this charge, which rests solely on his evidence. But 
to satisfy the requisition of the Commissioners, I 
have brought my pride to submit, (though not 
without great pain, I can assure your Majesty) to 
add the only contradictions which I conceive can 
be given, those of Mr. Lawrence and myself. 

The next person with whom these examinations 
charge my improper familiarity, and with regard 
to which the Report represents the evidence as par- 
ticularly strong, is Captain Manby. With respect 
to him, Mr. Cole's examination is silent — But the 
evidence, on which the Commissioners rely on this 
part of the case, is Mr. Bidgood's, Miss Fanny 
Lloyd's, and Mrs, Lisle's.*»-It respects my conduct 
at three different places; at Montague House, 
Southend, and at Ramsgate. I shall preserve the 
facts and my observations more distinct, if I con- 
sider the evidence, as applicable to these three 
places, separately, and in its order; and I prefer 
this mode of treating it, as it will enable me to 
consider the evidence of Mrs. Lisle in the first 
place, and consequently put it out of the reach of 
the harsher observations, which I may be under 



11® 



the necessity of making, upon the testimony of the 
other two. For though Mrs. Lisle, indeed, speaks 
to having seen Captain Man by at East Cliff, in 
Aug. 1 803, to the best of her remembrance it was 
only once ; she s peaks to his meeting her at Deal, 
in the same season ; that he landed therewith 
some boys whom I took on charity, and who were 
under his care j yet she speaks of nothing there 
that can require a single observation from me. — 
*The material parts of her evidence respect her 
seeing him at Blackheath, the Christmas before 
she had seen him at East Cliff. She says, it was 
the Christmas after Mr. Austin's child came, con- 
sequently the Christmas 1802-3. — He used to 
come to dine there, she says, he always went away 
in her presence, and she had no reason to think he 
staid after the Ladies retired He lodged on the 
Heath at that time ; his ship was fitting up at 
Deptford ; he came to dinner three or four times a 
week, or more. — She supposes he might be alone 
with the Princess, but that she was in the habit of 
seeing Gentlemen and Tradesmen without her be- 
ing present. She (Mrs. Lisle) has seen him at 
luncheon and dinner both. — The boys (two boys) 
came with him two or three times, but not to din- 
ner. Captain Manby always sat next the Princess 
at dinner. — The constant company were Mrs. and 
Miss Fitzgerald, and herself — all retired with the 
Princess, and sat in the same room. Captain 

* Appendix (A.) No. 27. 



Ill 



Manby generally retired about eleven ; and sat 
with us all till then. Captain Manby and the 
Princess used, when we were together, to bespeak- 
ing together separately, conversing separately, but 
not in a room alone. He was a person with whom 
the Princess appeared to have greater pleasure in 
talking than with her Ladies. Her Royal High- 
ness behaved to him only as any woman zvould 
who likes flirting. She (Mrs* Lisle) would not have_ 
thought any married woman would have behaved 
properly, xvho behaved as Her Royal Highness did 
to Captain Manby. She can't say whether the 
Princess was attached to Captain Manby , only 
that it was a flirting conduct. — -She never saw any 
gallantries, as kissing her hand, or the like." 

I have cautiously stated the whole of Mrs. Lisle's 
evidence upon this part of the case; and I am sure 
Your Majesty in reading it, will not fail to keep 
the facts, which Mrs. Lisle speaks to, separate 
from the opinion, or judgment, which she forms 
upon them. — I mean not to speak disrespectfully, 
or slightingly, of Mrs. Lisle's opinion , or express 
myself as in any degree indifferent to it. But what- 
ever there was which she observed in my conduct, 
that did not become a married woman, that 
" was only like a woman who liked flirting," and 
" only a flirting conduct.' 1 — I am convinced your 
Majesty must be satisfied that ic must have been 
far distant from affording any evidence of crime, 
©f vice, or of indecency, as it passed openly in the 



112 



company of my Ladies, of whom Mrs. Lisle her- 
self was one. 

The facts she states are, that Captain Manby 
came very frequently to my house ; that he dined 
there three or four times a week in the latter end 
of the year 1802; that he sat next to me at din- 
ner; and that my conversation after dinner, in the 
evening, used to be with Captain Manby, separate 
from my Ladies. — These are the facts : and is it 
upon them that my character, I will not say, is 
to be taken away, but is to be affected ? 

Captain Manby had, in the autumn of the same 
year, been introduced to me by Lady Townshend, 
when I was upon a visit to her at Rainham. I 
think he came there only the day before I left it. 
He was a naval officer, as I understood, and as I 
still believe, of great merit. What little expence, 
in the way of charity, I am able to afford, I am 
best pleased to dedicate to the education of the 
children of poor, but honest persons ; and I most 
generally bring them up to the service of the Na- 
vy. I had at that time two boys at school, whom 
I thought of an age fit to be put to sea. I desired 
Lady Townshend to prevail upon Captain Manby 
to take them. He consented to it, and of course 
I was obliged to him. 

About this time, or shortly afterwards, he was 
appointed to the Africaine, a ship which was fitting 
up at Deptford. To be near his ship, as I under- 
stood and believe, he took lodgings at Biackheath; 
and as to the mere fact of his being so frequently 



IIS 



at my house, — his intimacy and friendship with 
Lord and Lady Townshend, which of itself was 
assurance to me of his respectability and character 
— my pleasure in shewing my respect to them, by 
notice and attention to a friend of theirs, — his un- 
dertaking the care of my charity boys, — and his 
accidental residence at Blackheath, will, I should 
trust, not unreasonably account for it. I have a 
similar account likewise to give of paying for the 
linen furniture, with which his cabin was furnished. 
Wishing to make him some return for his trouble 
with the boys, I desired that I might choose the 
pattern of his furniture. I not only chose it, but 
had it sent to him, and paid the bill ; finding how- 
ever, that it did not^come to more than about 
twenty pounds, I thought it a shabby present, and 
therefore added some trifling present of plate. So 
I have frequently done, and I hope without offence 
may be permitted to do again to any Captain, on 
whom I impose such trouble. Sir Samuel Hood 
has now two of my charity boys with him ; and I 
have presented him with a silver Epergne. I 
should be ashamed to notice such things, but 
your Majesty perceives, that they are made the 
subject of Inquiry from Mrs. Fitzgerald, and Mr* 
Stikeman, and I was desirous that they should not 
appear to be particular in the case of Captain 
Manby. 

But to return to Mrs. Lisie's examination} 
Mrs. Lisle says, that Captain Manby, when he 

Q 



114 



dined with me, sat next to me at dinner. Be- 
fore any inference is drawn from that fact, I am 
sure your Majesty will observe that, in the next 
line of Mrs. Lisle's examination, she says " that the 
constant company was Mrs. and Miss Fitzgerald, 
and herself, Mrs. Lisle." The only gentleman,, the 
only person of the whole party who was not of my 
own family, was Captain Manby ; and his sitting 
next to me, under such circumstances, I should ap- 
prehend could not possibly afford any inference of 
any kind. In the evening we were never alone. The 
whole company sat together; nay even as to his be- 
ing with me alone of a morning, Mrs. Lisle seems to 
know nothing of the fact, but from a conjecture found- 
ed upon her knowledge of my known usual habit, with 
respect to seeing gentleman who might call upon me. 
And the very foundation of her conjecture demon- 
strates that this circumstance can be no evidence of 
any thing particular with regard to Captain Manby. 
As to my conversing with Captain Manby sepa- 
rately, I do not understand Mrs. Lisle as mean- 
ing to speak to the state of the conversation unin- 
terruptedly, during the whole of any of the several 
evenings when Captain Manby was with me; if 
T did so understand her, I should certainly most 
confidently assert that she was not correct 
That in the course of the evening, as the ladies 
were working, reading, or otherwise amusing them- 
selves, the conversation was sometimes more and 
sometimes less general; and that they sometimes 
took more ? sometimes less part in it; — that fre- 



115 



^uently it was between Captain Manby and my- 
self alone ; — and that, when we were all together, 
we two might frequently be the only persons not 
otherwise engaged, and therefore be justly said 
to be speaking together separately. Besides Cap- 
tain Manby has been round the world with Cap- 
tain Vancovre. I have looked over prints in 
books of voyages with him ; he has explained them 
to me; the ladies may or may not have been 
looking over them at the same time ; they may 
have been engaged with their own amusements* 
Here, again, we may be said to have been con- 
versing separately, and consequently that Mrs e 
Lisle, in this sense, is perfectly justified in saying 
that " I used to converse separately with Captain 
Manby," I have not the least difficulty in admit- 
ting. But have I not again reason to complain 
that this expression of Mrs, Lisle's was not more 
sifted, but left in a manner calculated to raise an 
impression that this separate conversation, was 
studiously sought for, was constant, uniform, and 
uninterrupted, though it by no means asserts any 
such thing? But whether I used always so to con- 
verse with him ; or generally, or only sometimes, 
or for what proportion of the evening I used to 
be so engaged, is left unasked and unexplained. 
Have I not likewise just reason to complain, that 
though Mrs. Lisle states, that Mrs. Fitzgerald and 
Miss Fitzgerald were always of the party, they 
are not both examined to these circumstances ? 
But Miss Fitzgerald is not examined at all; and 



115 



Mrs. Fitzgerald, though examined, and examined 
too with respect to Captain Manby, does not ap- 
pear to have had a single question put to her with 
respect to any thing which passed concerning him at 
Montague House. May I not therefore complain 
that the examination, leaving the generality of Mrs. 
Lisle's expression unexplained by herself; and the 
scenes to which it relates unexamined into, by call- 
ing the other persons who were present, is leaving 
it precisely in that state, which is better calculated 
to raise a suspicion, than to ascertain the truth ? 

But I am persuaded that the unfavourable im- 
pression which is most likely to be made by Mrs. 
Lisle's examination, is not by her evidence to the 
facts, -but by her opinion upon them. " I ap- 
peared," she says, " to like the conversation of 
Captain Manby better than that of my ladies. I 
behaved to him only as a woman who likes flirting ; 
my conduct was unbecoming a married woman ; 
she cannot say whether I was attached to Cap- 
tain Manby or not ; " it was only a flirting con- 
duct. " — Now, Sire, I must here again most se- 
riously complain that the Commissioners should 
have called for, or received, and much more re- 
ported, in this manner, the opinion and judgment 
of Mrs. Lisle upon my conduct. Your Majesty's 
Warrant purports to authorise them to collect 
the evidence, and not the opinion of others ; and 
to report it, with their own judgment surely, 
and not Mrs. Lisle's. Mrs. Lisle's judgment was 
formed upon those facts which she stated to the 



117 



Commissioners, or upon other facts. If upon those 
she stated, the Commissioners, and your Majesty, 
are as well able to form the judgment upon them 
as she was. If upon other facts, the Commission- 
ers should have heard what those other facts were, 
and upon them have formed and reported their 
judgment. 

I am aware, indeed, that if I were to argue that 
the facts which Mrs. Lisle states, afford the ex- 
planation of what she means by " only flirting 
conduct," and by " behaviour unbecoming a 
married woman," namely, " that it consisted in 
having the same gentleman to dine with me three 
or four times a week ; — letting him sit next me at 
dinner, when there were no other strangers in com- 
pany ; — conversing with him separately, and ap- 
pearing to prefer his conversation to that of the 
ladies, — it would be observed probably, that this 
was not all ; that there was always a certain indes- 
cribable something in manner, which gave the 
character to conduct, and must have entered 
mainly into such a judgment as Mrs. Lisle has here 
pronounced. 

To a certain extent I should be obliged to agree 
to this ; but if I aan to have any prejudice from 
this observation ; if it is to give a weight and 
authority to Mrs. Lisle's judgment, let me have 
l he advantage of it also. If it justifies the conclu- 
sion that Mrs. Lisle's censure upon my conduct 
is right, it requires also that equal credit should be 
given to the qualification, the limit, and the res- 



118 

triction, which she herself puts upon that cen- 
sure. 

Mrs. Lisle, seeing all the facts which she re- 
lates, and observing much of manner, which per- 
haps she could not describe, limits the expression 
" flirting conduct" by calling it " only flirting," 
and says (upon having the question asked to her, 
no doubt, whether from the whole she could col- 
lect that I was attached to Captain Manby) says 
" she could not' say whether I was attached to 
him, my conduct was not of a nature that proved 
any attachment to him, it was only a flirting con- 
duct." Unjust, therefore, as I think it, that any 
such question should have been put to Mrs. Lisle ? 
or that her judgment should have been taken at 
all; yet what I fear from it, as pressing with 
peculiar hardship upon me, is, that though it is 
Mrs. Lisle's final and ultimate judgment upon the 
whole of my conduct, jet, when delivered to the 
Commissioners and your Majesty, it becomes evi- 
dence, which connected with all the facts on which 
Mrs. Lisle had formed it, may lead to still further 
and more unfavourable conclusions, in the minds of 
those who are afterwards to judge upon it ; — that 
her judgment will be the foundation of other judg- 
ments against me, much severer than her own ; and 
that though she evidently limits her opinion, and by 
saying " only flirting" impliedly negatives it as 
affording any indication of any thing more im- 
proper, while she proceeds expressly to negative 
it as affording any proof of attachment; yet it ? 



119 



may be thought, by others, to justify their con- 
dering it as a species of conduct, which shewed an 
attachment to the man to whom it was addressed ; 
which in a married woman was criminal and 
wrong. 

What Mrs. Lisle exactly means by only flirting 
conduct — what degree of impropriety of conduct 
she would describe by it, it is extremely difficult, 
with any precision, to ascertain. How many 
women are there, most virtuous, most truly 
modest, incapable of any thing impure, vicious, or 
immoral, in deed or thought, who, from greater 
vivacity of spirits, from less natural reserve, from 
that want of caution, which the very consciousness 
of innocence betrays them into, conduct themselves 
in a manner, which a woman of a graver character, 
of more reserved disposition, but not with one par- 
ticle of superior virtue, thinks too incautious, too 
unreserved, too familiar; and which, if forced upon 
her oath to give her opinion upon it, she might feel 
herself, as an honest woman, bound to say in that 
opinion, was flirting ? 

But whatever sense Mrs. Lisle annexes to the 
word " flirting" it is evident, as I said before, 
that she cannot mean any thing criminal, vicious, 
or indecent, or any thing with the least shade of 
deeperim propriety than what is necessarily express- 
ed in the word " flirting." She never would have 
added, as she does in both instances, that it was 
only flirting; if she had thought it of a quality to 
be recorded in a formal Report, amongst circum- 



20 



stances which must occasion the most unfavourabl« 
interpretations, and which deserved the most serious 
consideration of your Majesty. To use it so, I am 
sure your Majesty must see, is to press it far beyond 
the meaning which she would assign to it herself. 

And as I have admitted that there may be 
much indescribable in the manner of doing any 
thing, so it must be admitted to me that there is 
much indescribable, and most material also, in the 
manner of saying any thing, and in the accent with 
which it is said. The whole context serves much 
to explain it ; and if it is in answer to a question, 
the viords of that question, the manner and the 
accent in which it is asked, are also most material 
to understand the precise meaning, which the ex- 
pressions are intended to convey ; and I must la- 
ment, therefore, extremely, if my character is to 
be affected by the opinion of any witness, that the 
questions by which that opinion was drawn from 
her, were not given too, as well as her answers, 
and if this inquiry had been prosecuted before 
your Majesty's Privy Council, the more solemn 
and usual course of proceeding there, would, as I 
am informed, have furnished, or enabled me to 
furnish, your Majesty with the questions as well as 
the answers. 

Mrs. Lisle, it should also be observed, was at 
the time of her examination, under the severe op- 
pression of having, but a few days before, heard 
of the death of her daughter ;— a daughter, who had 
been happily married, and who had lived happily 






121 



with her husband, in mutual attachment till her 
death. The very circumstance of her then situa- 
tion would naturally give a graver .and severer cast 
to her opinions. When the question was proposed 
to her, as a general question, (and I presume it 
must have been so put to her) whether my con- 
duct was such as would become a married woman, 
possibly her own daughter's conduct, and what 
she would have expected of her, might present 
itself to her mind. And I confidently submit to 
your Majesty's better judgment, that such a ge- 
neral question ought not, in a fair and candid con- 
sideration of my case, to have been put to Mrs. 
Lisle, or any other woman. For, as to my con- 
duct being, or not being, becoming a married wo- 
man ; the same conduct, or any thing like it, which 
may occur in my case, could not occur in the case 
of a married woman, who was not living in my un- 
fortunate situation ; or, if it did occur, it must occur 
under circumstances which must give it, and most 
deservedly, a very different character. A married 
woman, living well and happily with her husband, 
could not be frequently having one gentleman at 
her table, with no other company but ladies of her 
family ; — she could not be spending her evenings 
frequently in the same society, and separately con- 
versing with that gentleman, unless either with 
the privity and consent of her husband, or by taking 
advantage, with some management, of his igno- 



\m 



ranee and his absence ; — if it was with his privity 
and consent, that very circumstance alone would 
unquestionably alter the character of such conduct;— 
if with management she avoided his knowledge, 
that very management would betray a bad motive. 
The cases therefore are not parallel ; — the illustra- 
tion is not just; — and the question, which called for 
such an answer from Mrs. Lisle, ought not, in can- 
dor and fairness, to have been put. 

I entreat your Majesty, however, not to misun- 
derstand me;— I should be ashamed indeed to be 
suspected of pleading any peculiar or unfortunate 
circumstance, in my situation, as an excuse for any 
criminal or indecent act. With respect to such 
acts, most unquestionably such circumstance can 
make no difference ; — can afford no excuse. They 
must bear their own character of disgrace and infa- 
my, under all circumstances But there are acts, 
which are unbecoming a married woman, which 
ought to be avoided by her, from an apprehension 
lest they should render her husband uneasy, not be- 
cause they might give him any reason to distrust her 
chastity, her virtue, or her morals, but because they 
might wound his feelings, by indicating a prefer- 
ence to the society of another man, over his, in a 
qase where she had the option of both. But surely, 
as to such acts, they must necessarily bear a very 
different character, and receive a very different 
construction, in a case where, unhappily, there can 
be no such apprehension, and where there is no 
such option. I must, therefore, be excused for 



123 



dwelling so much upon this part of the case; and I 
am sure, your Majesty will feel me warranted in 
saying, what I say with a confidence, exactly pro- 
portioned to the respectability of Mrs. Lisle's cha- 
racter, that, whatever she meant, by any of these 
expressions, she could not, by possibility, have 
meant to describe conduct, which to her mind af- 
forded evidence of crime, vice, or indecency. If 
she had, her regard to her own character, her own 
delicacy, her own honourable and virtuous feelings, 
would in less than the two vears, which have since 
elapsed, have found some excuse for separating her- 
self from that intimate connection, which, by her 
situation in my household, subsists between us. She 
would not have remained exposed to the repetition 
of so gross an offence, and insult, to a modest, vir- 
tuous, and delicate woman, as that of being made, 
night by night, witness to scenes, openly acted in her 
presence, offensive to virtue and decorum. 

If your Majesty thinks I have dwelt too long, 
and tediously, on this part of the case, I entreat 
your Majesty to think what I must feel upon it. 
I feel it a great hardship, as I have frequently stated, 
that under the cover of a grave charge of High 
Treason, the proprieties, and decencies, of my pri- 
vate conduct and behaviour, have been made the 
subject, as I believe so unprecedently, of a forma 
investigation upon oath. And that, in consequence 
of it, I may, at this moment, be exposed to the dan- 
ger of forfeiting your Majesty's good opinion, and 
being degraded and disgraced, in reputation through 



1M 



the country, because what Mrs. Lisle has said of my 
conduct; — that it was " only that of a woman who 
liked flirting/' has become recorded in the Report 
on this formal Inquiry, made into matters of grave 
crimes, and of essential importance to the state. 

Let me conjure your Majesty, over and over 
again, before you suffer this circumstance to pre- 
judice me in your opinion, not only to weigh all 
the circumstances I have stated, but to look round 
the first ranks of female virtue, in this country, and 
see how many women there are of most unimpeach- 
ed reputation, of most unsullied and unsuspected 
honour, character and virtue, whose conduct 
though living happily with their husbands, if sub- 
mitted to the judgment of persons of a severer 
cast of mind, especially if saddened, at the moment, 
by calamity, might be stiled to be " flirting." I 
would not, however, be understood as intending to 
represent Mrs. Lisle's judgment, as being likely to 
be marked with any improper austerity, and there- 
fore I am certain she must either have had no idea 
that the expressions she has used, in the manner 
which she used them, were capable of being under- 
stood, in so serious a light as to be referred to, 
amongst circumstances deserving the most serious 
consideration, and which must occasion most unfa- 
vourable interpretations; or she must by the impo- 
sing novelty of her situation, in private examination 
before four such grave characters, have been surpri- 
sed into the use of expressions, which, with a better 
opportunity of weighing them, she would either not 



125 



have used at all, or have accompanied with still 
more of qualification than that, which she has, how- 
ever, in some degree, as it is, annexed to them. 

But my great complaint is the having, not, par- 
ticularly, Mrs. Lisle's opinion, but any person's 
opinion, set up, as it were, in judgment against the 
propriety of my private conduct. How would it 
be endured, that the judgment of one man should 
be asked, and recorded in a solemn Report, against 
the conduct of another, either with respect to his 
behaviour to his children, or to his wife, or to any 
other relative? How would it be endured, in ge- 
neral, and I trust, that my case ought not, in this 
respect, to form an exception, that one woman 
should in a similar manner be placed in judgment, 
upon the conduct of another? And that judgment 
be reported, where her character was of most im- 
portance to her, as amongst things which must be 
credited till decidedly contradicted ? Let every 
one put these questions home to their own breasts, 
and before they impute blame to me, for protest- 
ing against the fairness and justice of this proce- 
dure, ask how they would feel upon it, if it were 
their own case ? 

But, perhaps, they cannot bring their imagina- 
tions to conceive that it could ever become their own 
case. A few months ago 1 could not have believed 
that it would have been mine. 

But the just ground of my complaint may, per- 
haps, be more easily appreciated and felt, by sup- 
posing a more familiar, but an analogous case. The 



126 



High Treason, with which I was charged, was sup- 
posed to be committed in the foul crime of adultery. 
What would be the impression of your Majesty, 
what would be the impression upon the mind of 
any one, acquainted with the excellent laws of your 
Majesty's kingdom, and the admirable adminis- 
tration of them, if upon a Commission of this 
kind, secretly to inquire into the conduct of any 
man, upon a charge of High Treason against the 
state, the Commissioners should not only proceed 
to inquire, whether in the judgment of the witness, 
the conduct of the accused was such as became a 
loyal s object; but, when the result of their Inquiry 
obliged them to report directly against the charge of 
Treason, they, nevertheless, should record an im- 
putation, or libel, against his character for loyalty, 
and reporting, as part of the evidence, the opinion 
of the witness, that the conduct of the accused was 
such as did not become a loyal subject, should fur- 
ther report, that the evidence of that witness, with- 
out specifying any part of it, must be credited till 
decidedly contradicted, and deserved the most se- 
rious consideration ? How could he appeal from 
that Report ? How could he decidedly contradict 
the opinion of the witness ? Sire, there is no dif- 
ference between this supposed case and mine, but 
this. That in the case of the man, a character for 
loyalty, however injured, could not be destroyed by 
such an insinuation. His future life might give 
him abundant opportunities of falsifying the justice 



127 



of it. But a female character once so blasted, what 
hope or chanc&has it of recovery ? 

Your Majesty will not fail to perceive, that I have 
pressed this part of the case, with an earnestness 
which shews that I have felt it. I have no wish to 
disguise from your Majesty, that I have felt it, and 
felt it strongly. It is the only part of the case, 
which I conceive to be in the least degree against 
me, that rests upon a witness who is at all worthy 
of your Majesty's credit. How unfair it is, that 
any thing she has said should be pressed against 
me, I trust I have sufficiently shewn. In canvas- 
sing, however, Mrs. Lisle's evidence, I hope .1 
have never forgot what was due to Mrs. Lisle. I 
have been as anxious not to do her injustice, as to 
do justice to myself. I retain the same respect and 
regard for Mrs. Lisle now, as I ever had. If the 
unfavourable impressions, which the Commission- 
ers seem to suppose, fairly arise out of the expres- 
sions she has used, I am confident they will be 
understood, in a sense, which was never intended 
by her. And I should scorn to purchase any ad- 
vantage to myself, at the expence of the slightest 
imputation, unjustly cast upon Mrs. Lisle, or any- 
one else. 

Leaving, therefore, with these observations, Mrs. 
Lisle's evidence, I must proceed to the evidence of 
Mr. Bidgood. The parts of it which apply to this 
part of the case, I mean my conduct to Captain 
Manby at Montague House, I shall detail. They 
are as follows.* " I first observed Captain Manby 
* Appendix (A.) p. 9. 



128 



came to Montague House either the end of 1803, 
or the beginning of 1804. I was waiting one day in 
the anti-room ; Captain Manby had his hat in his 
hand, and appeared to be going away ; he was a 
long time with the Princess, and, as I stood on the 
steps waiting, I looked into the room in which they 
were, and in the reflection on the looking-glass I 
saw them salute each other. I mean that they 
kissed each other's lips. Captain Manby then went 
away. I then observed the Princess have her 
handkerchief in her hands, and wipe her eyes, as if 
she was crying, and went into the drawing-room." 
In his second deposition,*' on the 3d July, talking of 
his suspiciens of what passed at Southend, he says, 
they arose from, seeing them kiss each other, as I 
mentioned before, like people fond of each other; — 
a very close kiss." 

In these extracts from his depositions, there can 
undoubtedly be no complaint of any thing being 
left to inference. Here is a fact, which must un- 
questionably occasion almost as unfavourable inter- 
pretations, as any fact of the greatest impropriety 
and indecorum, short of the proof of actual 
crime. And this fact is positively and affirma- 
tively sworn to. And if this witness is truly repre- 
sented, as one who must be credited till he is deci- 
dedly contradicted ; and the decided contradiction of 
the parties accused, should be considered as unavail- 
ing, it constitutes a charge which cannot possibly be 
answered. For the scene is so laid, that there is no 
eye to witness it, but his own ; and therefore there 
* See Appendix (A.) p. 40. 



129 



ban be no one who can possibly contradict him, 
however false his story may be, but the persons 
whom he accused. As for me, Sire, there is no 
mode, the most solemn that can be devised, in 
which I shall not be anxious and happy to contra- 
dict it. And I do here most solemnly, in the face 
of Heaven, most directly and positively affirm, 
that it is as foul, malicious, and wicked a falsehood, 
as ever was invented by the malice of man. Cap- 
tain Manby, to whom I have been under the ne- 
cessity of applying, for that purpose, in the depo- 
sition which I annex, most expressly and positively 
denies it also. Beyond these our two denials, there 
is nothing which can by possibility be directly op- 
posed to Mr. Bidgood's evidence.— All that re- 
mains to be done is to examine Mr. Bidgood's cre- 
dit, and to see how far he deserves the character 
which the Commissioners give to him. — How un- 
foundedly they gave such a character to Mr. Cole, 
your Majesty, I am satisfied, must be fully con- 
vinced. 

I suppose there must be some mistake, I will 
not call it by any harsher name, for I think it can 
be no more than a mistake, in Mr. Bidgood's say- 
ing, that the first time he knew Captain Manby 
come to Montague House, was at the end of 1803, 
or beginning of 1804; for he first came at the end 
of the former year f and the fact is, that Mr. Bid- 
good must have seen him then. — But, however, 

* Before 1803. 



13© 



the date is comparatively immaterial, the fact it is, 
that is important. 

And here, Sire, surely I have the same com- 
plaint which I have so often urged. I would ask 
your Majesty, whether I, not as a Princess of 
Wales, but as a party accused, had not a right to 
be thought, and to be presumed, innocent, till I 
was proved to be guilty ? Let me ask, if there ever 
could exist a case, in which the credit of the wit- 
ness ought to have been more severely sifted and 
tried ? The fact rested solely upon his single asser- 
tion. However false, it could not possibly receive 
contradiction, but from the parties. The story itself 
surely is not very probable. My character cannot 
be considered as under inquiry ; it is already gone, 
and decided upon, by those, if there are any such, 
who think such a story probable. — That in a room, 
with the door open, and a servant known to be 
waiting just by, we should have acted such a seen© 
of gross indecency. The indiscretion at least might 
have rendered it improbable, even to those, whose 
prejudices against me, might be prepared to con- 
ceive nothing improbable in the indecency of it. 
Yet this seems to have been received as a fact that 
there was no reason to question. The witness is 
assumed, without hesitation, to be the witness of 
truth, of unquestionable veracity. Not the faintest 
trace is there to be found of a single question put 
to him, to try and sift the credit which was due to 
him, or to his story. 

Is he asked, as I suggested before should have 



131 



teen done with regard to Mr. Cole — To whom he 
told this fact before ? When he told it ? What was 
done in consequence of this information ? If he 
never told it, till for the purpose of supporting 
Lady Douglas' statement, how could he in his si-* 
tuation, as an old servant of the Prince, with whom 
as he swears, he had lived twenty-three years, cre- 
ditably to himself, account for having concealed it 
so long ? And how came Lady Douglas and Sir 
John to find out that he knew it, if he never had 
communicated it before ? If he had communicated 
it, it would then have been useful to have heard 
how far his present story was consistent with his 
former ; and if it should have happened that this 
and other matters, which he may have stated, 
were, at that time, made the subject of any Inquiry ; 
then how far that Inquiry had tended to confirm or 
shake his credit. His first examination was, it is 
true, taken by Lord Grenville and Lord Spencer 
alone, without the aid of the experience of the Lord 
Chancellor, and Lord Chief Justice ; this undoubt- 
edly may account for the omission ; but the noble 
Lords will forgive me if I say, it does not excuse it, 
especially as Mr. Bidgood was examined again on 
the 3d of July, by all the Commissioners, and this 
fact is again referred to then, as the foundation of 
the suspicion which he afterwards entertained of 
Captain Manby at Southend. Nay, that last de- 
position affords on my part, k another ground of si- 
milar complaint of the strongest kind. It opens 
thus : " The Princess used to go out in her phaeton 



132 



" with coachman and helper, towards Long Reach, 
" eight or ten times, carrying luncheon and wine 
" with her, when Captain Manby's ship was at 
" Long Reach, always Mrs. Fitzgerald with her. 
" She would go out at one, and return about five 
Ci or six, sometimes sooner or later." 

The date when Captain Manby's ship was lying 
at Long Reach, is not given ; and therefore whe-r 
ther this was before or after the scene of the sup- 
posed salute does not appear. But for what was 
this statement of Mr. Bidgood's made ? Why was 
it introduced? Why were these drives towards 
Long Reach with luncheon, connected with Cap- 
tain Manby's ship lying there at the time, examined 
to by the Commissioners ? The first point, the 
matter foremost in their minds, when they call 
back this witness for his re-examination, appears to 
have been these drives towards Long Reach. — 
Can it have been for any purpose but to have the 
benefit of the insinuation, to leave it open to be in- 
ferred, that those drives were for the purpose of 
meeting Captain Manby ? If this fact was material, 
why in the name of justice was it so left? Mrs. 
Fitzgerald was mentioned by name, as accompany- 
ing me in them all ; Why was not she called ? She 
perhaps was my confidante ; no truth could have 
been hoped for from her j — still there were my 
coachman and helper, who likewise accompanied 
me; Why were they not called ? they are not 
surely confidants too. — But it is, for what reason I 
g^nnot pretend to say, thought sufficient to leave 



123 



this fact, or rather this insinuation, upon the evi* 
dence of Mr. Bidgood, who only saw, or could see, 
the way I went when I set out upon my drive, in- 
stead of having the fact from the persons who could 
speak to the whole of it ; to the places I went to ; 
to the persons whom I met with. 

Your Majesty will think me justified in dwelling 
upon this, the more from this circumstance, because 
I know, and will shew to your Majesty, on the tes- 
timony of Jonathan Partridge, which I annex, that 
these drive's, or at least one of them, have been 
already the object of previous, and, I believe, 
nearly cotemporary investigation, The truth is, 
that it did happen upon two of these drives that I 
met with Captain Manby ; in one of them that he 
joined me, and went with me to Lord Eardleys, at 
Eelvidere, and that he partook of something which 
we had to eat ; — that some of Lord Eardley's ser- 
vants were examined as to my conduct upon this 
occasion ; — and I am confidently informed that the 
servants gave a most satisfactory account of all that 
passed ; nay, that they felt, and have expressed 
some honest indignation at the foul suspicion which 
the examination implied. On the other occasion, 
having the boys to go on board the Africaine, I 
went with one of my Ladies to see them on board, 
and Captain Manby joined us in our walk round 
Mr. Calcraft's grounds at Ingress Park, opposite to 
Long Reach ; where we walked, while my horses 
were baiting. We went into no house, and on that 
occasion had nothing to eat. 



134 



Perfectly unable to account why these facts were 
iaot more fully inquired into, if thought proper to 
be inquired into at all, I return again to Mr, Bid-' 
good's evidence. As far as it respects my conduct 
at Montague House, it is confined to the circum- 
stances which I have already mentioned. And, 
upon those circumstances, I have no further obser- 
vation, which may tend to illustrate Mr. Bidgood's 
credit, to offer. But I trust if, from other parts of 
his evidence, your Majesty sees traces of the strong- 
est prejudices against me, and the most scandalous 
inferences drawn from circumstances, which can in 
no degree support them, your Majesty will then be 
able justly to appreciate the credit due to every 
part of Mr. Bidgood's Evidence. 

Under the other head into which I have divided 
this part of the case, I mean my conduct at South- 
end, as relative to Captain Manby, and Mr. Bidgood 
is more substantial and particular.* His statement 
on this head begins by shewing that I was at South-* 
end about six weeks before the Africaine, Captain 
Manby*s ship, arrived. That Mr. Sicard was 
looking out for its arrival, as if she was expected. 
And as it is my practice to require as constant a 
correspondence to be kept up with my charity boys a 
when on board of ship, as the nature of their situa- 
tion will admit of, and as Mr. Sicard is the person 
who manages all matters concerning them, and en- 
ters into their interests with the most friendly anx.- 

* See Appendix (A.) p. 10. 



135 



iety, he certainly was apprised of the probability 
of the ship's arrival off Southend, before she came. 
And here I may as well, perhaps, by the way, re- 
mark, that as this correspondence with the boys is 
always under cover to the Captain ; this circum- 
stance may account to your Majesty for the fact, 
which is stated by some of the witnesses, of several 
letters being put into the post by Sicard, some of 
which he may have received from me, which were 
directed to Captain Manby. 

Soon after the arrival of the Africaine, however, 
Bidgood says, the Captain put off in his boat. 
Sicard went to meet him, and immediately brought 
him up to me and my Ladies ; — he dined there 
then, and came frequently to see me. It would 
have been as candid, if Mr. Bidgood had represent- 
ed the fact as it really was, though perhaps the cir- 
cumstance is not very material : — that the Captain 
brought the two boys on shore with him to see me, 
and this, as well as many other circumstances con- 
nected with these boys, the existence of whom, as 
accounting in any degree for the intercourse be- 
tween me and Captain Manby, could never have 
been collected from out of Bidgood's depositions, 
Sicard would have stated, if the Commissioners had 
examined him to it. But though he is thus referred 
to, though his name is mentioned about the letters 
sent to Captain Manby, he does not appear to hav* 
been examined to any of them, and all that he ap- 
pears to have been asked is, as to his remembering 
Captain Manby visiting at Montague House, and 
to my paying the expense of the linen furniture for 



136 



his cabin. But Mr. Sicard was, I suppose, repre- 
sented by my enemies to be a confidant, from whom 
no truth could be extracted, and therefore that it 
was idle waste of time to examine him to such 
points ; and so unquestionably he, and every other 
honest servant in my family, who could be suppos- 
ed to know any thing upon the subject, were sure 
to be represented by those, whose conspiracy and 
falsehood, their honesty and truth were the best 
means of detecting. The conspirators, however, 
had the first word, and unfortunately their veracity 
was not questioned, nor their unfavourable bias sus- 
pected. 

Mr. Bidgood then proceeds to state the situation 
of the houses, two of which, with a part of a 
third, I had at Southend. He describes No. 9, as 
the house in which I slept; No. 8, as that in which 
we dined ; and No. 7, as containing a drawing- 
room, to which we retired after dinner. And he 
says, u I have several times seen the Princess, after 
" having gone to No. 7 with Captain Manby and 
" the rest of the company, retire with Captain 
" Manby from No. 7, through No. 8, to No. 9, 
" which was the house where the Princess slept. 
" I suspect that Captain Manby slept very fre- 
" quently in the house. Hints were given by the 
" servants, and I believe that others suspected it as 
" well as myself." — What those hints were, by 
what servants given, are things which do not seem 
to have been thought necessary matters of inquiry. 
At least, there is no trace in Mr. Bid good's, or any , 



137 



other witness's examination, of any such inquiry 
having been made. 

In his second deposition, which applies to the 
same fact, after saying that we went away the day 
after the Africaine sailed from Southend, he says, 
" Captain Manby was there three times a week at 
" the least, whilst his ship lay for six weeks off 
" Southend at the Nore ; — he came as tide served 
" in a morning, and to dine, and drink tea. I 
" have seen him next morning by ten o'clock. 
" I suspected he slept at No. 9> the Princess's. 
" — She always put out the candles herself in 
c< drawing-room at No. 9, and bid me not wait 
<c to put them up. She gave me the orders as 
" soon as she went to Southend. I used to see 
tc water-jugs, basons, and towels, set out opposite 
" the Princess's door in the passage. Never saw 
<c them so left in the passage at any other time, 
" and I suspected he was there at that time ; 
" there was a general suspicion through the 
" house. Mrs. and Miss Fitzgerald there, and 
(< Miss Hammond (now Mrs. Hood) there. My 
" suspicions arose from seeing them in the glass," 
&c. as mentioned before. — " Her behaviour like 
" that of a woman attached to a man ; used to 
" be by themselves at lucheon, at Southend, 
tc when the ladies were not sent for ; — a number 
" of times. There was a poney which Captain 
€i Manby used to ride ; it stood in the stable 
" ready for him, and which Sicard used to ride." 
Then he says, the servants used to talk and laugh 
about Captain Manby, and that it was matter of 
discourse amongst them; and this, with what 

T 



138 



has been alluded to before, respecting Sicard's 
putting letters for him in the post, which he had 
received from me, contains the whole of his de- 
position as far as respects Captain Manby. 
And, Sire, as to the fact of retiring through No, 
8, from No. 7, to No. 9, alone with Captain 
Manby, I have no recollection of ever having 
gone with Captain Manby, though but for a mo- 
ment, from the one room in which the company 
was sitting, through the dining-room to the other 
drawing-room. It is, however, now above two 
years ago, and to be confident that such a cir- 
cumstance might not have happened, is more than 
I will undertake to be. But in the only sense in 
which he uses the expression, as retiring alone, 
coupled with the immediate context that follows, 
it is most false and scandalous. I know no 
means of absolutely proving a negative. If the 
fact was true, there must have been other wit- 
nesses who could have proved it as well as Mr. 
Bidgood. Mrs. Fitzgerald is the only person of 
the party, who was examined, and her evidence 
proves the negative, so far as the negative can be 
proved; for she says, " he dined there, but 
" never said late. She was at Southend all the 
" time I was there, and cannot recollect to have 
" seen Captain Manby there, or known him to 
" be there, later than nine, or half-past nine." 
Miss Fitzgerald and Miss Hammond, (now Mrs. 
Hood) are not called to this fact; although a fact 
so extremely important, as it must appear to 
your Majesty ; nor indeed are they examined 
at all. 



139 



As to the putting oat of the candles, it seems 
he says, I gave the orders as soon as I went to 
Southend, which was six weeks before the Afri- 
caine arrived •> so this plan of excluding him 
from the opportunity of knowing what was going 
on at No. 9> was part of a long meditated 
scheme, as he would represent it, planned and 
thought of six weeks before it could be executed ; 
and which when it was executed, your Majesty 
will recollect, according to Mr. Bidgood's evi- 
dence, there was so little contrivance to conceal, 
that the basons and towels, which the Captain is 
insinuated to have used, were exposed to sight, 
as if to declare that he was there. — It is tedious 
and disgusting, Sire, I am well aware, to trouble 
your Majesty with such particulars ; but it, 
doubtless, is true, that I bid him not take the 
candles away from No. 9* The candles which 
are used in my drawing-room, are considered as 
his perquisites. Those on the contrary which 
are used in my private apartment are the per- 
quisites of my maid. I thought that upon the 
whole it was a fairer arrangement, when I was 
at Southend, to give my maid the perquisites of 
the candles used at No. 9; and I made the ar- 
rangement accordingly, and ordered Mr. Bid- 
good to leave them. This, Sire, is the true 
account of the fact respecting the candles ; an 
arrangement which, very possibly Mr. Bidgood 
did not like. 

But the putting out the candles myself, was 



140 



not the only thing, from which the inference is 
drawn, that Captain Manby slept at my house, 
at No. 9, and as is evidently insinuated, if not 
stated, in my bed-room. There were water-jugs, 
and basons, and towels left in the passage, 
which Mr. Bidgood never saw at other times. 
At what other times does he mean ? At other 
times than those at which he suspected, from 
seeing them there, that Captain Manby slept in 
my house ? If every time he saw the bason and 
towels, &c. in the passage, he suspected Cap- 
tain Manby slept there, it certainly would follow 
that he never saw them at times when he did not 
suspect that fact. But, Sire, upon this impor- 
tant fact, important to the extent of convicting 
me, if it were true, of High Treason, if it were 
not for the indignation which such scandalous, 
licentious wickedness and malice excite, it would 
hardly be possible to treat it with any gravity. 
Whether there were or were not basons and 
towels sometimes left in a passage at Southend, 
which were not there generally, and ought to 
have been never there, I really cannot inform 
your Majesty. It certainly is possible, but the 
utmost it can prove, I should trust, might be 
some slovenliness in my servant, who did not put 
them in their proper places ; but surely it must be 
left to Mr. Bidgood alone to trace any evidence 
from such a circumstance, of the crime of adul- 
tery in me. But I cannot thus leave this fact, for 
I trust I shall here again have the same advantage 
from the excess and extravagance of this man's 



141 



malice, as I have already had on the other part of 
the charge, from the excess and extravagance of his 
confederate Lady Douglas. 

What is the charge that he would insinuate? 
That I meditated and effected a stolen, secret, clan- 
destine, intercourse with an adulterer? No. — 
Captain Manby, it seems, according to his insinua- 
tion, slept with me in my own house, under cir- 
cumstances of such notoriety, that it was impossible 
that any of my female attendants, at least, should not 
have known it. Their duties were varied on the 
occasion ; they had to supply basons and towels 
in places where they never was supplied, except 
when prepared for him ; and they were not dnly 
purposely so prepared, but prepared in an open 
passage, exposed to view, in a manner to excite the 
suspicion of those who were not admitted into the 
secret. And what a secret was it, that was thus 
to be hazarded ! No less than what, if discovered, 
would fix Captain Manby and myself with High 
Treason ! Not only, therefore, must I have been 
thus careless of reputation, and eager for infamy ; 
but I must have been as careless of my life, as of 
my honour. — Lost to all sense of shame, surely I 
must have still retained some regard for life. — 
Captain Manby too, with a folly and madness 
equal to his suppossd iniquity, must then have 
put his life in the hands of my servants, and de- 
pended for his safety upon their fidelity to me, 
and their perfidy to the Prince their master. I 
the excess of vice and crime in all this is believed, 



14* 



eould its indiscretion, its madness, find credulity to 
adopt it almost upon any evidence? But what 
must be the state of that man's mind, as to preju- 
dice, who could come to the conclusion of believ- 
ing it, from the fact of some water-jugs and towels 
being found in an unusual place, in a passage near 
my bed-room? For as to his suspicion being 
raised by what he says he saw in the looking-glass, 
if it was as true as it is false, that could not occa- 
sion, his believing, on any particular night, that 
Captain Manby slept in my house ; the situation of 
these towels and basons is what leads to that belief. 
But, Sire, may I ask, did the Commissioners be- 
lieve this man's suspicions ? If they did, what do 
they mean by saying that these facts of great inde- 
cency, &c. went to a much less extent than the 
principal charges? And that it was not for them 
to state their bearing and effect ? The bearing of 
this fact unquestionably, if believed, is the same 
as that of the principal charge ; namely, to prove 
me guilty of High Treason. They, therefore, could 
not believe it. But if they did not believe it, and, 
as it seems to me, Sire, no men of common judg- 
ment could, on such a statement how could they 
bring themselves to name Mr. Bidgood as one of 
those witnesses on whose unbiassed testimony they 
could so rely? or how could they, (in pointing 
him out with the other three as speaking to facts, 
particularly xvith respect to Captain Manby, 
which must be credited till decidedly contradicted) 
emit to specify the facts which he spoke to that 



143 



they thus thought worthy of belief, but leave the 
whole, including this incredible part of it, recom- 
mended to belief by their general and unqualified 
sanction and approbation. 

But the falsehood of this charge does not rest on its 
incredibility alone. My servant Mrs. Sander, who 
attended constantly on my person, and whose bed- 
room was close to mine, was examined by the Com- 
missioners ; she must have known this fact if it had 
been true : she positively swears " that she did not 
know or believe, that Captain Manby staid till very 
late hours with me ; that she never suspected there 
was any improper familiarity between us. M.Wilson, 
who made my bed, swears, that she had been in the 
habit of making it ever since she lived with me, that 
another maid, whose name was Ann Bye, assisted 
with her in making it, and swears from what she ob- 
served, she never had any reason to believe that two 
persons had slept in it. Referring thus by name 
to her fellow-servant, who made the bed with her, 
but that servant, why I know not, is not examined. 
As your Majesty then finds the inference drawn 
by Bidgood to amount to a fact so openly and undis- 
guisedly profligate, as to outrage all credibility ; 
as your Majesty finds it negatived by the evidence 
of three witnesses, one of whom, in particular, if 
such a fact were true, must have known it ; as 
your Majesty finds one witness appealing to ano- 
ther, who is pointed out as a person who must 
have been able, with equal means of knowledge, 
to have confirmed her if she spoke true, and to 



144 



have contradicted her if she spoke false. And, 
Sire, when added to all this, your Majesty is gra- 
ciously pleased to recollect that Mr. Bidgood was 
one of those who, though in my service, submit- 
ted themselves voluntarily to be examined previous 
to the appointment of the Commissioners, in con- 
firmation of Lady Douglas's statement, without 
informing me of the fact ; and when I state to your 
Majesty, upon the evidence of Philip Krackeler and 
Robert Eaglestone, whose deposition I annex, 
that this unbiassed witness, during the pendency of 
these examinations before the Commissioners, was 
seen to be in conference and communication with 
Lady Douglas, my most ostensible accuser, do I 
raise my expectations too high, when I confidently 
trust that his malice, and his falsehood, as well as 

his connection in this conspiracy against my honour, 
my station in this kingdom, and my life, will ap- 
pear to your Majesty too plainly for him to receive 
any credit, either in this or in any other part of his 
testimony ? 

The other circumstances, to which he speaks, are 
comparatively too trifling, for me to trouble your 
Majesty with any more observations upon his evi- 
dence. 

The remaining part of the case, which respects 
Captain Manby, relates to my conduct at East 
Cliff. 

How little Mrs. Lisle's examination affords for 
observations upon this part of the case, except 
as shewing how very seldom Captain Manby cal- 



145 

led upon me while I was there, I have already 
observed. Mr. Cole says nothing upon this part 
of the case ; nor Mr. Bidgood. The only witness 
amongst the four whose testimonies are distinguish- 
ed by the Commissioners as most material, and as 
those on which they particularly rely, who says any 
thing upon this part of the case, is Fanny Lloyd. 
Her deposition is as follows. # 

" I was at Ramsgate with the Princess in 1803. 
f 6 One morning when we were in the house at 
" East CI iff, somebody, I don't recollect who, 
" knocked at my door, and desired me to prepare 
" breakfast for the Princess. This was about six 
(e o'clock ; I was asleep. During the whole time I 
" was in the Princess's service, I had never been 
" called up before to make the Princess's breakfast. 
" I slept in the house-keeper's room, on theground- 
u floor. I opened the shutters of the window for 
a light. I knew at that time that Captain Manny's 
" ship was in the Downs. When I opened the 
ff shutters, I saw the Princess walking down the 
" Gravel- Walk towards the sea. No orders had 
(i been given me over-night to prepare breakfast 
" early. The gentleman the Princess was with 
" was a tall man. I was surprised to see the 
" Princess walking with a gentleman at that time 
" in the morning. I am sure it was the Princess." 

What this evidence of Fanny Lloyd applies to, 
I do not feel certain that I recollect. The circum- 
stances which she mentions might, I think, have 
occurred twice while I was there ; and which time 

* Appendix (A) p. 13, 
U 



146 

she alludes to, I cannot pretend to say. I mean on 
occasion of two water parties, which I intended ; 
one of which did not take place at all, and the 
other not so early in the day as was intended, nor 
was its object effected. Once I intended to pay 
Admiral Montague a visit at Deal. But, wind and 
tide not serving, we sailed much later than we in- 
tended ; and instead of landing at Deal, the Admiral 
came on board our vessel, and we returned to East 
Cliff in the evening, on which occasion Captain 
Manby was not of the party, nor was he in the 
Downs — -but it is very possible, that having 
prepared to set off early, I might have walked 
down towards the sea, and been seen by Fanny 
Lloyd. On the other occasion, Captain Manby 
was to have been of the party, and it was to have 
been on board his ship. I desired him to be early 
at my house in the morning, and if the day suited 
me, we would go. He came ; I walked with him 
towards the sea, to look at the morning; I did 
not like the appearance of the weather, and did 
not go to sea. Upon either of these occasions 
Fanny Lloyd might have been called up to make 
breakfast, and might have seen me walking. As 
to the orders not having been given her over night, 
to that I can say nothing. 

But upon this statement, what inference can be 
intended to be drawn from this fact ? It is the 
only one in which F. Lloyd's evidence can in any 
degree be applied to Captain Manby, and she is 
one of tke important witnesses referred to, as 



147 

proving something which must, particularly as with 
regard to Captain Manby, be credited till contra- 
dicted, and as deserving the most serious consider- 
ation. From the examination of Mrs. Fitzgerald 
I recollect, that she was asked whether Captain 
Manby ever slept in the house at East Cliff, to 
which she, to the best of her knowledge, answers 
in the negative. Is this evidence then of Fanny 
Lloyd's relied upon to afford an inference that 
Captain Manby slept in my house ? or was there at 
an improper hour ? or in a manner, and under cir- 
cumstances, which afforded reason for unfavoura- 
ble interpretations ? If this were so, can it be 
believed that I would, under such circumstances, 
have taken a step, such as calling for breakfast, 
at an unusual hour, which must have made the 
fact more notorious and remarkable, and brought 
the attention of the servants, who must have 
waited at the breakfast, more particularly an4 
pointedly to it $ 

But if there is any thing which rests, or is 
supposed to rest, upon the credit of this witness — 
though she is one of the four, whose credit Your 
Majesty will recollect it has been stated that there 
was no reason to question, yet she stands in a 
predicament in which, in general, at least, I had 
understood it to be supposed, that the credit of a 
witness was not only questionable, but materially 
shaken. For, towards the beginning of her exami- 
nation, she states*, that Mr. Milk attended her for 
a cold ; he asked her if the Prince came to Black* 

* Appendix (A.) p. 13. 



148 

heath backwards and forwards ; or something to 
that effect ; for the Princess was with child ; or 
looked as if she was with child. This must have 
been three or four years ago. She thought it must 
be sometime before the child (W. Austin) was 
brought to the Princess. To this fact she posi- 
tively swears, and in this she is as positively con- 
tradicted by Mr. Mills ;* for he swears, in his depo- 
sition before the Commissioners, that he never did 
say to her, or any one, that the Princess was with 
child, or looked as if she was with child ;— that he 
never thought so, nor surmised any thing of the 
kind. Mr. Mills has a partner, Mr. Edmeads. 
The Commissioners therefore, Conceiving that Fan- 
ny Lloyd might have mistaken one of the partners 
for the other, examine Mr. Edmeads also. Mr. 
Edmeads, in his deposition ,-{■* is equally positive 
that he never said any such thing — so the matter 
rests upon these depositions ; and upon that state 
of it, what pretence is there for saying, that a 
witness who swears to a conversation with a medi- 
cal person, who attended me, of so extremely 
important a nature ; and is so expressly and de- 
cidedly contradicted in the important fact which 
she speaks to, is a witness whose credit there 
appears no reason to question ? This important 
circumstance must surely have been overlooked 
when that statement was made. 

But this fact of Mr.Millsand Mr. Edmeads's con- 
tradiction of Fanny Lloyd, appears to Your Majesty, 
for the first time, from the examination before the 

* Appendix (A.) p. 32. f Appendix (A.) p. 30. 



149 

Commissioners. — But this is the fact which I charge 
as having been known to those, who are concerned 
in bringing forward this information, and which, 
nevertheless, was not communicated to Your Ma- 
jesty. — The fact that Fanny Lloyd declared, that 
Mr. Mills told her the Princess was with child, is 
stated in the declarations which were delivered to 
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and by 
him forwarded to Your Majesty. — The fact that 
Mr. Mills denied ever having so said, though known 
at the same time, is not stated. 
' That I maynot appear to have represented so strange 
a fact, without sufficient authority, [subjoin the De- 
claration of Mr. Mills, and the Deposition of Mr. 
Edmeads, which prove it. Fanny Lloyd's original 
Declaration, which was delivered to His Royal High- 
ness, is dated on the 12th of February. It appears to 
have been taken at the Temple ; I conclude there- 
fore at the chambers of Mr. Lowten, Sir John 
Douglas's solicitor, who # , according to Mr. Cole, 
accompanied him to Cheltenham to procure some 
of these Declarations. On the 13th of February, 
the next day after Fanny Lloyd's Declaration, the 
Earl of Moira sends for Mr. Mills upon pressing 
business. Mr. Mills attends him on the 14th ; he 
is asked by his Lordship upon the subject of this 
conversation; he is told he may rely upon his 
Lordship's honour, that what passed should be in 
perfect confidence ; (a confidence which Mr. Mills, 
feeling it to be on a subject too important to his 
character, at the moment disclaims ;) — that it was 

• Appendix (B/ No. 103. 



150 

his (the Earl of Moira's) duty to his Prince, as his 
counsellor, to enquire into the subject, which he 
had known for some time. — Fanny Lloyd's state- 
ment being then related to Mr. Mills, Mr. Mills, 
with great warmth, declared that it was an infamous 
falsehood. — Mr. Lowten, who appears also to have 
been there by appointment, was called into the 
room, and he furnished Mr. Mills with the date to 
which Fanny Lloyd's declaration applied. The 
meeting ends in Lord Moira's desiring to see Mr. 
Mills's partner, Mr. Edmeades, who, not being at 
home, cannot attend him for a few days. He does, 
however, upon his return, attend him on the 20th 
of May : on his attendance, instead of Mr. Lowten, 
he finds Mr. Conant, the magistrate, with Lord 
Moira. He denies the conversation with Fanny 
Lloyd, as positively and peremptorily as Mr. Mills. 
Notwithstanding however all this, the declaration of 
Fanny Lloyd is delivered to His Royal Highness, 
unaccompanied by these contradictions, and for- 
warded to Your Majesty on the 29th. That Mr. 
Lowten was the Solicitor of Sir John Douglas in 
this business, cannot be doubted; that he took 
some of those Declarations, which were laid before 
Your Majesty, is clear ; and that he took this De- 
claration of Fanny Lloyd's, seems not to. be ques- 
tionable. That the Inquiry by Earl Moira, two 
days after her Declaration was taken, must have 
been in consequence of an early communication of 
it to him, seems necessarily to follow from what is 
above stated; that it was known, on the 14th of 



J5I 

May, that Mr. Mills contradicted this assertion ; 
and, on the 20th, that Mr. Edmeades did, is per- 
fectly clear ; and yet, notwithstanding all this, the 
fact, that Mr. Edmeades and Mr. Mills contra- 
dicted it, seems to have been not communicated to 
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, for he, 
as it appears from the Report, forwarded the De- 
clarations which had been delivered to His Royal 
Highness, through the Chancellor, to Your Ma- 
jesty ; and the Declaration of Fanny Lloyd, which 
had been so falsified, to the knowledge of the Earl 
Moira and of Mr. Lowten, the Solicitor for Sir 
John Douglas, is sent in to Your Majesty as one 
of the documents, on which you were to ground 
your Inquiry, unaccompanied by its falsification by 
Mills and Edmeades; at least, no Declarations by 
them are amongst those which are transmitted to 
me, as copies of the original Declarations which 
were laid before Your Majesty. I know not whe- 
ther it was Lord Moira, or Mr. Lowten, who 
should have communicated this circumstance to His 
Royal Highness; butthat, in allfairness,it ought un- 
questionably tohavebeencom municated bysomeone. 
I dare not trust myself with any inferences 
from this proceeding ; I content myself with re- 
marking, that it must now be felt, that I was justi- 
fied in saying, that neither His Royal Highness, 
nor Your Majesty, any more than myself, had 
been fairly dealt with, in not being fully informed 
upon this important fact ; and Your Majesty will 
forgive a weak, unprotected woman, like myself, 



Ib2 

who, under such circumstances, should apprehend 
that, however Sir John and Lady Douglas may ap- 
pear my ostensible accusers, I have other enemies, 
whose ill-will I may have occasion to fear, without 
feeling myself assured, that it will be strictly regu- 
lated, in its proceeding against me, by the prin- 
ciples of fairness and of justice. 

I have now, Sire, gone through all the evidence 
which respects Captain Manby ; whether at Mon- 
tague House, Southend, or East Cliff, and I do 
trust, that your Majesty will see, upon the whole 
of it, how mistaken a view the Commissioners 
have taken of it. The pressure of other duties en- 
grossing their time and their attention, has made 
them leave the important duties of this investiga- 
tion, in many particulars, imperfectly discharged 
— a more thorough attention to it must have given 
them a better and truer insight into the characters 
of those witnesses, upon whose credit, as I am 
convinced, Your Majesty will now see, they have 
without sufficient reason relied. There remains 
nothing for me, on this part of the charge to per- 
form ; but, adverting to the circumstance which 
is falsely sworn against me by Mr. Eidgood, of the 
salute, and the false inference and insinuation, from 
other facts, that Captain Manby slept in my house, 
either at Southend, or East Cliff, on my own part 
most solemnly to declare, that they are both utterly 
false ; that Bidgood's assertion as to the salute is a 
malicious slanderous invention, without the slightest 
shadow of truth to support it $ that his suspicions 



153 

and insinuations, as to Captain Manby's having 
slept in my house, are also the false suggestions of 
his own malicious mind ; and that Captain Manby 
never did, to my knowledge or belief, sleep in my 
house at Southend, East Cliff, or any other house 
of mine whatever ; and, however often he may 
have been in my company, I solemnly protest to 
Your Majesty, as I have done in the former cases^ 
that nothing ever passed between him and me, that 
I should be ashamed, or unwilling, that all the 
world should have seen. And I have also, with 
great pain, and with a deep sense of wounded de- 
licacy, applied to Captain Manby to attest to the 
same truths, and I subjoin to this letter his Depo- 
sition to that effect. 

I stated to Your Majesty, that I should be obliged 
to return to other parts of Fanny Lloyd's testimony. 
At the end of it, she says, *" I never told Cole that M. 
Wilson, when she supposed the Princess to be in the 
library, had gone into the Princess's bed-room, and 
had found a man there at breakfast with the Prin- 
cess ; or that there was a great to do about it, and that 
M, Wilson was sworn to secrecy, and threatened to 
be turned away, if she divulged what she had seen." 
This part of her examination your Majesty will 
perceive, must have been called from her, by some 
precise question, addressed to her, with respect to 
a supposed communication from her to Mr. Cole. 
In Mr. Cole's examination, there is not one word 
upon the subject of it. Jn his original declaration^ 

* Appendix (A.) p. 14. 
X 



154 

however there is : anil there* your Majesty will per- 
ceive, that he affirms the fact of her having repor- 
ted to him Mary Wilson's declaration, in the very 
same words in which Fanny Lloyd denies it, and it 
is therefore evident that the Commissioners, in 
putting this question to Fanny Lloyd, must have 
put it to her from Cole's declaration. She posi- 
tively denies the fact ; there is then a flat and pre- 
cisecontradiction, between the examination of Fan- 
ny Lloyd and the original statement of Mr. Cule. 
It is therefore impossible that they both can have 
spoken true. The Commissioners, for some rea- 
son, don't examine Cole to this point at all ; don't 
endeavour to trace out this story ; if they had, they 
must have dicovered which of these witnesses 
spoke the truth; but they leave this contradiction, 
not only unexplained, but uninquired after, and in 
that state, report both these witnesses, Cole and 
Fanny Lloyd, who thus speak to the two sides of 
a contradiction, and who therefore cannot by pos- 
sibility both speak truth, as witnesses who cannot 
be suspected of partiality, whose credit they see 
no reason to question, and whose story must be 
believed till contradicted. 

But what is,if possible,still more extraordinary, this 
supposed communication from F. Lloyd to Cole, as 
your Majesty observes, relates to something which 
M.Wilson is supposed to have seen and to have said; 
yet though M.Wilson appears herself to have been 
examined by the Commissioners on the same day 
with Fanny Lloyd, in the copy of her examination^ 

• Appendix (B) p. 99. 



155 

as delivered to me, there is no trace of any question 
relating to this declaration having been put to her. 
And I have not less reason, to lament, than to be 
surprised, that it did not occur to the Commissio- 
ners to see the necessity of following this Inquiry 
still further. For, if properly pursued, it would 
have demonstrated two things, both very important 
to be kept in mind in the whole of this consideration. 
First, how hearsay representations of this kind, ari- 
sing out ot little or nothing, become magnified and 
exaggerated by the circulation of prejudiced, or 
malicious reporters; and, Secondly, it would have 
shewn the industry pf Mr. and Mrs. Bidgood, as 
well as Mr. Cole, in collecting information in sup- 
port of Lady Douglas's statement, and in impro- 
ving what they collected by their false colourings, 
and malicious additions to it. They would have 
found a story in Mrs. Bidgopd's* declaration, as 
well as in her husband's-}- (who relates it as having 
heard it from his wife,) which is evidently the same 
as that which W. Cole's declaration contains. For 
the Bidgoods' declarations state, that Fanny 
Lloyd told Mrs. Bidgood that Mary Wilson had 
gone into the Princess's bed room, and had 
found her Royal Highness and Sir Sidney in the 
most criminal situation ; that she had left the room, 
and was so shocked, that she fainted away at the 
door. Here then are Mrs. Bidgood, and Mr. 
Cole, both declaring what they had heard Fanny 
Lloyd say, and Fanny Lloyd denying it. How ex- 
traordinary is it that they were not all confronted! 

* Appendix (B.) p. 106. f Appendix (B.) p. 100. 



156 

and your Majesty will see presently how much it 
is to be lamented that they were not. For, from 
Fanny Lloyd's original declaration, it appears that 
the truth would have come out. As she there 
states that,* "To the best of her knowledge Mary 
Wilson said, that she had seen the Princess and Sir 
Sidney in the Blue Room, but never heard Mary 
Wilson say she was so alarmed as to be in a fit. ,? 
If then, on confronting Fanny Lloyd with Mrs. 
Bidgood and Mr. Cole, the Commissioners had 
found Fann)^ Lloyd's story to be what she related 
before, and had then put the question to Mary 
Wilson, and had heard from her what it really was 
which she had seen and related to Fanny Lloyd, 
they could not have been at a loss to have disco- 
vered which of these witnesses told the truth. 
They would have found, I am perfectly confident, 
that all that Mary Wilson ever could have told 
Fanny Lloyd, was that she had seen Sir Sidney 
and myself in the Blue Room, and they would then 
have bad to refer to the malicious, and confederated 
inventions of the Bidgood s and Mr. Cole, for the 
conversion of the Blue Room, into the bed-room ; 
for the vile slander of what M. Wilson was sup- 
posed to have seen, and for the violent effect which 
this scene had upon her. I say their confederated 
inventions, as it is impossible to suppose that they 
could have been concerned in inventing the same 
additions to Fanny Lloyd's story, unless they had 
communicated together upon it. And when they 
had once found Mrs. Bidgood and Mr. Cole, thus 

* Appendix (B.) p. 107. 



157 

conspiring together, they would have had no diffi- 
culty in connecting them both in the same conspi- 
racy with Sir John Douglas, by shewing how 
connected Cole was with Sir John Douglas, and 
how acquainted with his proceedings, in collecting 
the evidence which was to support Lady Douglas's 
declaration. 

For, by referring to Mr. Cole's declaration, made 
on the 23rd of February,* they would have seen 
that Mr. Cole, in explaining some observation 
about Sir Sidney's supposed possession of a key to 
the garden door, says that it was what " Mr. Lam- 
& pert, the servant of Sir John Douglas, mentioned 
- at Cheltenham to Sir John Douglas and Mr. 
?' Lowten."— How should Mr. Cole know that Sir 
*John Douglas and Mr. Lowten had been down to 
Cheltenham, to collect evidence from this old ser- 
vant of Sir John Douglas's ? How should he 
have known what that evidence was, unless he 
had either accompanied them himself, or at least 
liad had such a communication either with Sir John 
Douglas, or Mr. Lowten r as it never could have 
occurred to any of them to have made to Mr. Cole, 
unless, instead of being a mere witness, he, were a 
party to this accusation ? But whether they had 
convinced themselves, that Fanny Lloyd spoke 
true, and Cole and Mrs. Bidgood falsely ; or whe- 
ther they had convinced themselves of the reverse, 
it could not have been possible, that they both 
could have spoken the truth ; and, consequently, 
the Commissioners could never have reported the 

* Appendix (B.) p. 103. 



158 

veracity of both to be free from suspicion, and de- 
serving of credit. 

There only remains that I should make a few 
observations, on what appears in the examinations 
relative to Mr. Hood (now Lord Hood,) Mr. 
Chester, and Captain Moore. And I really should 
not have thought a single observation necessary 
upon either of them, except that what refers to 
them is stated in the examinations of Mrs. Lisle. 
With respect to Lord Hood it is as follows : 
*"I was at Catheriugton with the Princess, — 
" remember Mr. (now Lord Hood) there, and the 
'* Princess going out airing with him, alone, in 
" Mr. Hood's little whiskey ;— and his servant was 
" with them ; Mr. Hood drove, and staid out two 
" or three times ; — more than once, three or four 
" times. Mr. Hood dined with us several times; — 
u once or twice he slept in a house in the garden ; 
" she appeared to pay no attention to him, but 
" that of common civility to an intimate acquaiu- 
" tance," Now Sire, it is undoubtedly true that 
I drove out several times with Lord Hood in his 
one horse chaise, and some few times, twice I be- 
lieve at most, without any of my servants attend- 
ing us ; and considering the time of life, and the 
respectable character of my Lord Hood, J never 
should have conceived that I incurred the least 
danger to my reputation in so doing. If indeed it 
was the duty of the Commissioners to inquire into 
instances of my conduct, in which they may con- 
ceive it to have been less reserved and dignified, 

* Appendix (A.) No. 27, 



159 

than what would properly become the exalted sta- 
tion which I hold in your Majesty's Royal Family, 
it is possible that, in the opinions of some, these 
drives with my Lord Hood were not consistent 
with that station ; and that they were particularly 
improper in those instances in which we were not 
attended by more servants, or any servants of my 
own. Upon this J have only to observe, that these 
instances occurred after I had received the news 
of the lamented death of your Majesty's brother, 
the Duke of Gloucester. I was at that time down 
by the sea side for my health. I did not like to 
forego the advantage of air and exercise for the 
short remainder of the time which I had to stay 
there ; and I purposely chose to go out, not in my 
own carriage, and unattended, that I might not be 
seen and known, to be driving about (myself and 
my attendants out of mourning) while his Royal 
Highness was known to have been so recently dead. 
This statement, however, is all that I have to make 
upon my part of the case, and whatever indecorum 
or impropriety of behaviour the Commissioners 
have fixed upon me by this circumstance, it must 
remain ; for I cannot deny the truth of the fact, and 
have only the above explanation to offer of it. As 
to what Mrs. Lisle's examination contains with 
respect to Mr. Chester and Captain Moore, it is 
so connected, that I must trouble your Majesty 
with the statement of it altogether. 

*" I was with her Royal Highness at Lady 
Sheffield's at Christmas in Sussex ; — I i nquired what 

* Appendix (A) p. 44. 



i6o 



company was there when I came, — she said, only 
Mr. John Chester, who was there by her Royal 
Highnesses orders ; that she could get no other 
company to meet her, on account of the roads, and 
the season of the year, He dined and slept there 
that night ; the next day other company came, Mr. 
Chester remained. I heard Her Royal Highness 
say she had been ill in the night, and came out for 
a light, and lighted her candle in her servant's 
room. I returned from Sheffield -pi ace to Black- 
heath with the Princess ; Captain Moore dined 
there ; I left him and the Princess twice alone, for 
a short time ; he might be alone half an hour with 
her in the room below, in which we had been 
sitting. I went to look for a book to complete a 
set her Royal Highness was lending Captain 
Moore. She made him a present of an inkstand, 
to the best of my recollection. He was there one 
morning in January last, on the Princess Char- 
lotte's birth-day ; he went away before the rest of 
the company. I might be about twenty minutes 
the second time I was away, the night Captain 
Moore was there. At Lady Sheffield's, her Royal 
Highness paid more attention to Mr. Chester than 
to the rest of the company. I know of her Royal 
Highness walking out alone, twice, with Mr. 
Chester in the morning alone ; once, a short time 
it rained, the other not an hour, not long. Mr. 
Chester is a pretty young man ; her attentions to 
him were not uncommon ; not the same as to Cap- 
tain Manby." 



161 

And first, Sire, as to what relates to Mr. Ches- 
ter. If there is any imputation to be cast upon 
my character by what passed at Sheffield- Place 
with Mr. Chester, (and by the Commissioners 
returning to examine Mrs. Lisle upon my atten- 
tion to Mr. Chester, my walking out with him, 
and above all u as to his being a pretty young man/' 
I conceive it to be so intended) I am sure your Ma- 
jesty will see that it is the hardest thing imaginable 
upon me, that, upon an occurrence which passed in 
Lady Sheffield's house, on a visit to her, Lady Shef- 
field herself was never examined ; for if she had been, 
I am convinced that these Noble Lords, the Com- 
missioners, never could have put me to the painful 
degradation of stating any thing upon this subject. 

The statement begins by Mrs. Lisle's inquiring, 
what company was there ? and Lady Sheffield say- 
ing " only Mr. John Chester, who was there by her 
Royal Highness's orders ; that she could get no other 
company on account of the roads." Is not this, Sire, 
left open to the inference that Mr. John Chester was 
the only person who had been invited by my orders ? 
If Lady Sheffield had been examined, she would 
have been able to have produced the very letter 
in which, in answer to her Ladyship's request, that 
I would let her know what company it would be 
agreeable for me to meet, I said, (( every thing of the 
name of North,all the Legges,and Chesters,Williara 
and John, &c. &c, and Mr. Elliott." Instead 
of singling out, therefore, Mr. John Chester, I 

y 



162 

included him in the enumeration which I made of 
the near relations of Lady Sheffield ; and your Ma- 
jesty from this alone cannot fail to see how false a 
colour, even a true fact can assume, if k be not 
sufficiently inquired into and explained. 

As to the circumstance of my having been taken 
ill in the night, being obliged to get up, and light 
my candle ; why this fact should be recorded, I am 
wholly at a loss to conceive. All the circum- 
stances however respecting it, connected very 
much as they are with the particular disposition of 
Lady Sheffield's house, would have been fully ex- 
plained, if thought material to have been inquired 
after, by Lady Sheffield herself; and I should have 
been relieved from the painful degradation of al- 
luding at all to a circumstance, which I could not 
further detail, without a degree of indelicacy ; and 
as I cannot possibly suppose such a detail can 
be necessary for my defence* it would, especially 
in addressing your Majesty, be wholly inexcusable. 
With respect to the attention which I paid to Mr. 
Chester, and my walking out twice alone with him 
for a short time> I know not how to notice it. At 
this distance of time I am not certain that I can, 

, with perfect accuracy, account for the circumstance. 
It appears to have been a rainy morning ; it was on 
the 27th or 28th of December; and whether, 
wishing to take a walk, I did not desire Lady 
Sheffield, or Mrs, : ^isle, or any Lady, to accora- 

r pany me in doing what, in such a morning, I 



m 

might think might be disagreeable to them, I 
really cannot precisely state to your Majesty. 

But here again, perhaps, in the judgment of 
some persons, may be an instance of familiarity 
which was not consistent with the dignity of the 
Princess of Wales ; but surely prejudice against me 
and my character must exceed all natural bounds 
in those minds in which any inference of crime, or 
moral depravity, can be drawn from such a fact. 
As to Captain Moore, it seems he was left alone 
with me, and twice in one afternoon by Mrs. 
Lisle ; he was alone with me half an hour. The 
first time Mrs. Lisle left us, her examination says, 
it was to look for a book which I wished to lend to 
Captain Moore. How long she was absent on that 
occasion she is not asked, but it could have been 
but ten minutes, as she appears to have been absent 
twenty minutes the second time. The Commis- 
sioners, though they particularly return to the In- 
quiry with respect to the length of time of her se- 
cond absence, did not require her to tell them the 
occasion of it ; if they had, she would have told 
them, that it was in search of the same book ;-^-that 
having on the first occasion looked for it in the 
drawing-room, she went afterwards to see for it in 
Mrs. Fitzgerald's room. — But I made him a presen| 
of an inkstand. I hope your Majesty will not 
think I am trifling with your patience when I take 
notice of such trifles. But it is of such trifles as 
these, that the evidence consists, when it is the evi- 
dence of respectable witnesses speaking to facts 5 



164 

and consequently speaking only the truth. Cap- 
tain Moore had conferred on me what I felt as a 
considerable obligation. My mother is very par- 
tial to the late Doctor Moore's writings. Captain 
Moore, as your Majesty knows, is his son, and he 
promised to lend me, for the purpose of sending it 
to my mother, a manuscript of an unpublished 
work of the Doctor's. In return for this civility I 
begged his acceptance of a trifling present. 

There is one circumstance/ alluded to in these 
examinations, which I know not how to notice, 
and yet feel it impossible to omit — I mean what 
respects certain anonymous papers, or letters, 
marked A. B. and C. to which Lord Cholmonde- 
ley appears to have been examined, upon the sup- 
position of their being my hand-writing. A let- 
ter, marked A. appears, by the examination of 
Lady Douglas, to have been produced by her; 
and the two papers, marked B. and a cover, marke4 
C. appear to have been produced by Sir John. 
These papers I have never seen ; but I collect then* 
to be the same as are alluded to in Lady Douglas's 
original Declaration, and, from her representation 
of them, they are most infamous productions. 
From the stile and language of the letter, she says, 
Sir John Douglas, Sir Sidney Smith, and herself, 
would have no manner of hesitation in swearing 
point blank (for that is her phrase) to their being 
in my hand-writing ; and it seems, from the state- 
ment of His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, 
that Sir Sidney Smith had been imposed upon to 



165 

Relieve, that these letters and papers wefe really 
written and sent to Sir John and Lady Douglas by 
me. 1 cannot help, however, remarking to Your 
Majesty, that, though Sir John and Lady Douglas 
produce these papers, and mark them, yet neither 
*he one nor the other swears to their belief of my 
hand-writing; it does not, indeed, appear, that 
they were asked the question ; and when it once oc- 
curred to the Commissioners to be material to in-* 
quire whose hand-writing these papers were,I should 
have been much surprised at their not applying to Sir 
John and Lady Douglas to swear it, as in their ori- 
ginal Declaration they offer to do, if it had not been 
that, by that time, I suppose, the Commissioners 
had satisfied themselves of the true value of Sir John 
and Lady Douglas's oaths,and therefore did not think 
it worth while to ask them any further questions. 

His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, as 
appears by his narrative,* was convinced, by Sir 
Sidney Smith, that these letters came from 
me. His Royal Highness had been applied to by 
me, in consequence of my having received a for- 
mal note from Sir John, Lady Douglas, and 
Sir Sidney Smith, requesting an audience im- 
mediately ; this was soon after >.. • y having desired 
to see no more of Lady Douglas. I conceived, 
therefore, the audience was required for the pur- 
pose of remonstrance, and explanation upon this 
circumstance, and as I was determined not to alter 
my resolution, nor admit of any discussion upon it, 
I requested His Royal Highness, who happened 

* Appendix, (B) No. 2. 



166- 

to be acquainted with Sir Sidney Smith, to try to 
prevent my having any further trouble upon the 
subject. His Royal Highness saw Sir Sidney 
Smith, and being impressed by him with the be- 
lief of Lady Douglas's story, that I was the author 
of these anonymous letters, he did that which na- 
turally became him, under such belief ; he endea- 
voured, for the peace of Your Majesty, and the 
honour of the Royal Family, to keep from the 
knowledge of the world, what, if it had been true, 
would have justly reflected such infinite disgrace 
upon me ; and, it seems, from the narrative that 
he procured, through Sir Sidney Smith, SirJobn 
Douglas's assurance that he would, under existing 
circumstances, remain quiet, if left unmolested. 
u This result (His Royal Highness says) he com- 
municated to me the following day, and I seemed 
satisfied with it." And undoubtedly, as he only 
communicated the result to me, I could not be 
otherwise than satisfied ; for as all that 'I wanted 
was, not to be obliged to see Sir John and Lady 
Douglas, and not to be troubled by them any more, 
the result of His Royal Highness's interference* 
through Sir Sidney Smith, was to procure me all 
that I wanted. I do not wonder that His Royal 
Highness did not mention to me the particulars of 
these infamous, letters and drawings, which were 
ascribed to me ; for, as long as he believed they 
were mine, undoubtedly it was a subject which he 
must have wished to avoid ; but I lament, as it 
happens, that he did not, as I should have satisfied 



167 

him, as far, a£ least, as any assertions of mine 
could have satisfied him, by declaring to him, as I 
do now most solemnly, that the letter is not mine, 
and that I know nothing whatever of the contents 
of it, or of the other papers ; and, I trust, that His 
Royal Highness, and every one else who may have 
taken up any false impression concerning them to 
my prejudice, from the assertion of Sir John and 
Lady Douglas, will, upon my assertion, and the 
evidence of Lord Cholmondeley, remove from 
their minds this calumnious falsehood, which, with 
many others, the malice of Sir John and Lady 
Douglas has endeavoured to fasten upon me. 

To all these papers Lady Douglas states, in her 
Declaration, that, not only herself and Sir John 
Douglas, but Sir Sidney Smith, would have no he- 
sitation in swearing to be in my hand-writing. — 
What says Lord Cholmondeley ?* — " that he is 
perfectly acquainted with my manner of writing. 
Letter A. is not of my hand-writing ; that the two 
papers marked B. appear to be wrote in a disguised 
hand ; that some of the letters in them remarkably 
resemble mine, but, because of the disguise, he 
cannot say whether they are or not ; as to the 
cover marked C. he did not see the same resem- 
blance." Of these four papers (all of which are stated 
by Ludy Douglas to be so clearly and plainly mine, 
that ttv an be no hesitation upon the subject), 
two . ^semblance to it, and although the 

other t j, writ! in a disguised h? i, have some 
letters re; : A ,embling mi'u„, .et, I trust, 

/idix (A) £, tff. 



l6s 

I shall not, upon such evidence, be subjected to so 
base an imputation ; and really, Sire, I know not 
how to account for the Commissioners examining 
and reporting upon this subject in this manner. For 
I understand from Mrs* Fitzgerald, that these 
drawings were produced by the Commissioners 
to her; and that she was examined as to her 
knowledge of them, and as to the hand-writing 
upon them ; that she was satisfied, and swore that 
they were not my hand-writing, and that she knew 
nothing of them, and did not believe they could 
possibly come from any lady in my house. She 
was shown the seal also, which Lady Douglas, in 
her Declaration, says, was the " identical one with 
" which I had summoned Sir John Douglas to 
" luncheon." To this seal, though it so much 
resembled one that belonged to herself, as to make 
her hesitate till she had particularly observed it ; 
she was at last as positive as to the hand-writing ; 
and having expressed herself with some feeling and 
indignation at the supposition, that either 1, her- 
self, or any of my ladies, could be guilty of so foul 
a transaction, the Commissioners tell her, they 
were satisfied, and believed her ; and there is not 
x>ne word of all this related in her examination.— 
Now, if their Lordships were satisfied from this, or 
iny other circumstance, that these letters were not 
my writing, and did not come from me, I can ac- 
count for their not preserving any trace of Mrs. 
Fitzgerald's evidence on this point, and leaving it 
eut of their Inquiry altogether ; but 5 if they 



thought proper to preserve any evidence upon It, 
to make it the subject of any examination ; surely 
they should not have left it on Lord Cholmonde- 
ley's alone ; but I ought to have had the benefit of 
Mrs. Fitzgerald's evidence also. But, as I said be- 
fore, they take no notice of her evidence ; nay, they 
finish they Report, they execute it according to the 
date it bears, upon the 14th of July, and it is not 
until two days afterwards, namely, on the iGth, 
that they examine Lord Cholmondeley to the 
hand-writing — with what view and for what pur- 
pose, 1 cannot even surmise : but with whatever 
view, and for whatever purpose, if these letters are 
at all to be alluded to in their Report, or the exa- 
minations accompanying it, surely I ought to have 
had the benefit of the other evidence, which dis- 
proved my connection with them. 

I have now, Sire, gone through all the matters 
contained in the examination, on which I think it, 
in any degree, necessary, to trouble your Majesty, 
with any observations. — For as to the examination 
of Mrs. Townley the washerwoman, if it applies at 
all, it must have been intended to have afforded 
evidence of my pregnancy and miscarriage. — And 
whether the circumstance she speaks to was occa- 
sioned by my having been bled with leeches, or 
whether an actual miscarriage did take place in my 
family, and by some means linen belonging to me 
was procured and used upon the occasion ; or to 
whatever other circumstance it is to be ascribed, 

z 



1^0 

after the manner in which the Commissioners have 
expressed their opinion, on the part of the case re- 
specting my supposed pregnancy, and after the 
evidence on which they formed their opinion, I do 
not conceive myself called upon to say any thing 
upon it ; or that any thing I could say could be 
more satisfactory than repeating the opinion, of the 
Commissioners, as stated in their Report, viz. 
(i That nothing had appeared to them which would 
warrant the belief that I was pregnant in that year, 
(1802,) or at any other period within the compass 
of their Inquiries — that they would not be warrant- 
ed in expressing any doubt respecting the alleged 
pregnancy of the Princess, as stated in the original 
declarations, a fact so fully contradicted, and by so 
many witnesses, to whom, if true, it must in vari- 
ous ways have been known, that we cannot think 
it entitled to the smallest credit." 

There are indeed, some other matters mentioned 
in the original declarations, which I might have 
found it necessary to observe upon ; but as the 
Commissioners do not appear to have entered into 
any examination with respect to them, I content 
myself with thinking that they had found the means 
of satisfying themselves of the utter falsehood of 
those particulars^ and therefore that they can re- 
quire no contradiction or observation from me. 

On the declarations, therefore, and the evidence, 
I have nothing further to remark. And, consci- 
ous of the length at which I have trespassed on 
your Majesty's patience, I will forbear to waste 



171 

your time by any endeavour to recapitulate what I 
have said. Some few observations, however, be- 
fore I conclude, I must hope to be permitted to 
subjoin. 

In many of the observations which I have made, 
your Majesty will observe that I have noticed what 
have appeared to me to be great omissions on the 
part of the Commissioners, in the manner of taking 
their examinations ; in forbearing to put any ques- 
tions to the witnesses, in the nature of a cross-ex- 
amination of them ; — to confront them with each 
other ; and to call other witnesses, whose testimony 
must either have confirmed or falsified, in impor- 
tant particulars, the examinations as they have 
taken them. It may perhaps occur, in consequence 
of such observations, that 1 am desirous that this 
Inquiry should be opened again ; that the Commis- 
sioners should recommence their labours, and that 
they should proceed to supply the defects in their 
previous examinations, by a fuller execution of 
their duty. — I therefore think it necessary, most 
distinctly and emphatically to state, thatl have no 
such meaning ; and whatever may be the risk that 
I may incur of being charged with betraying a con- 
sciousness of guilt, by thus flying from an exten- 
sion or repetition of this Inquiry, I must distinctly 
state, that so far from requesting the revival of it, 
1 humbly request your Majesty would be gracious- 
Ip pleased to understand me as remonstrating, and 
protesting against it, in the strongest and most so- 
lemn manner in my power. 



17*2 

I am yet to learn the legalityof sueh a Commission 
to inquire, even in the ease of High Treason, or 
any other crime known to the laws of the country. 
If it is lawful in the case of High Treason, supposed 
to he cammitted by me, surely it must be lawful 
also in the case of High Treason supposed to be 
committed by other subjects of your Majesty. 

That there is much objection to it, in reason and 
principle, my understanding assures me. That such 
Inquiries, carried on upon ex parte examination, and 
a Report of the result by persons of high authority, 
may, ray must, have a tendency to prejudice the 
character of the parties who are exposed to them, 
and thereby influence the further proceedings in 
their case ; — that are calculated to keep back from 
notice, and in security, the person of a false accuser, 
and to leave the accused in the predicament of nei- 
ther being able to look forward, for protection to an 
acquittal of himself, nor for redress to the convic- 
tion of his accuser. — That these and many other 
objections occur to such a mode of proceeding, in 
'the case of a crime known to the laws of this coun* 
try, appears to be quite obvious. — But if Com- 
missioners acting under such a power, or your Ma- 
jesty's Privy-Council, or any regular Magistrates, 
when they have satisfied themselves of the falsehood 
of the principal charge, and the absence of all le- 
gal and'substantive offence, are to be considered as 
empowered to proceed in the examination of the 
particulars of private life ; to report upon the pro- 
prieties of domestic conduct ; and the decorums of 



173 

private behaviour, and to pronounce their opinion 
against the party, upon the evidence of dissatisfied 
servants, whose veracity they are to hold up as un- 
impeachable, and to do this without permitting the 
persons whose conduct is inquired into, to suggest 
one word in explanation or contradiction of the 
matter with which they are charged ; it would, I 
submit to your Majesty, prove such an attack up- 
on the security and confidence of domestic life, 
such a means of recording, under the sanction of 
great names and high authority, the most malicious, 
and foulest imputations, that no character could 
possibly be secure ; und would do more to break in 
upon and undermine the happiness and comfort of 
life, than any proceeding which could be imagined. 
The public in general perhaps may feel not 
much interest in the establishment of such a pre- 
cedent in my case. They may think it to be a 
course of proceeding scarcely applicable to any pri- 
vate subject ; yet, if once such a court of honour, 
of decency, and of manners, was established, many 
subjects might occur to which it might be thought 
advisable to extend its jurisdiction, beyond the in- 
stance of a Princess of Wales. But should it be 
intended to be confined to me, your Majesty, I 
trust, will not be surprised to find that it does not 
reconcile me the better to it, should I learn myself 
to be the single instance in your kingdom, who is 
exposed to the scrutiny of so severe and formida- 
ble a tribunal. So far therefore from giving that 
sanction or consent to any fresh Inquiry, upon 



174 

similar principles, which I should seem to do, by 
requiring the renewal of these examinations, I must 
protest against it ; protest against the nature of the 
proceeding, because its result cannot be fair. I 
must protest, as long at least as it remains doubtful, 
agains the legality of what has already passed, as well 
as against thelegality of its repetition. — If thecourse 
be legal, I must submit to the laws, however severe 
they may be. But I trust new law is not to be 
found out, and applied to my case. — If I am guilty 
of crime I know I am amenable, I am most con- 
tented to continue so, to the impartial laws of your 
Majesty's kingdom ; and I fear no charge brought 
against me, in open day, under the public eye, be- 
fore the known tribunals of the country, adminis- 
tering justice under those impartial and enlightened 
laws. But secret tribunals, created for the first 
time for me, to form and pronounce opinions upon 
my conduct, without hearing me; to record, in the 
evidence of the witnesses which they report, im- 
tations against my character upon ex parte exami- 
nations, — till I am better reconciled to the justice 
of their proceedings, I cannot fail to fear. And till 
I am better informed as to their legality, I cannot 
foil in duty to my dearest interests, most solemnly 
to remonstrate and to protest against them. 

If such tribunals as these are called into action 
againstme, by the false charges of friends turned ene- 
mies, of servants turned traitors, andacting as spies ; 
by the foul conspiracy of such social and domes- 
tic treason. I can look to no security to my honour 
in the most spotless and most cautious innocence* 



175 

By the contradiction and denial which in this case 
I have been enabled to procure, of the most im- 
portant facts which have been sworn against me by 
Mr. Cole and Mr. Bidgood ; — by the observations, 
and the reasonings, which I have addressed to your 
Majesty, I am confident, that to those whose sense 
of justice will lead them to wade through this long 
detail, I shall have removed the impressions which 
have been raised against me. — But how am I to in- 
sure a patient attention to all this statement ? How 
many will hear that the Lord High Chancellor, the 
Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench, the First 
Lord of the Treasury, and one of your Majesty's 
Principal Secretaries of State, have reported against 
me, upon evidence which they have declared to be 
unbiassed and unquestionable ; who will never have 
the opportunity, or if they had the opportunity, 
might not have the inclination, to correct the error 
of that Report, by the examinationof my statement. 

I feel, therefore, that by this proceeding, my 
character has received essential injury. For a 
Princess of Wales to have been placed in a situa- 
tion, in which it was essential to her honour to 
request one gentleman to swear, that he was not 
locked up at midnight in a room with her alonei 
and another, that he did not give her a lascivious 
salute, and never slept in her house, is to have been 
actually degraded and disgraced. — I have been, 
Sire, placed in this situation, I have been cruelly, 
your Majesty will permit me to say so, cruelly de- 
graded into the necessity of making sueh requests. 



A necessity which I never could have been exposed 
to, even under this Inquiry, if more attention had 
been given to the examination of these malicious 
charges, and of the evidence on which they rest. 

Much solicitude is felt, and justly so, as connected 
with this Inquiry, for the honour of your Majesty's 
illustrious Family. But surely a true regard to 
that honour should have restrained those who really 
felt for it, from casting such severe reflections on 
the character and virtue of the Princess of Wales. 

If, indeed, after the most diligent and anxious 
Inquiry, penetrating into every circumstance con- 
nected with the charge, searching every source 
from which information could be derived, and scru- 
tinizing with all that acuteness, into the credit and 
character of the witnesses, with great experience, 
talent, and intelligence could bring to such a sub- 
ject ; and, above all, if after giving me some op- 
portunity of being heard, the force of truth had, at 
length, compelled any persons to form, as reluc- 
tantly, and as unwillingly as they would, against 
their own daughters, the opinion that has been 
pronounced ; no regard, unquestionably, to my ho- 
nour and character, nor to that of your Majesty's 
Family, as, in some degree, involved in mine, 
could have justified the suppression of that opi- 
nion, if legally called for, in the course of official 
and public duty. Whether such caution and re- 
luctance are really manifest in these proceedings, 
I must leave to less partial judgments than my 
own to determine. 



m 

In the full examination of these proceedings 3 
which justice to my own character has required of 
me, I have been compelled to make many obser- 
vations, which, I fear, may prove offensive to per- 
sons in high power — Your Majesty will easily be- 
lieve, when I solemnly assure you, that I have been 
deeply sorry to yield to the necessity of so doing. 
This proceeding manifests that I have enemies 
enough ; I could not wish unnecessarily to increase 
their number., or their weight. I trust, however, 
I have done it., I know it has been my purpose to 
do it, in a manner as little offensive as the justice 
due to myself would allow of; but I have felt that 
I have been deeply injured ; that I have had much 
to complain of; and that my silence now would not 
be taken for forbearance, but would be ascribed to 
me as a confession of guilt. The Report itself an- 
nounced to me, that these things, which had been 
spoken to by the witnesses, " great improprieties 
and indecencies of conduct," " necessarily occa- 
sioning most unfavourable interpretations, and de- 
serving the most serious consideration," " must be 
credited till decidedly contradicted." The most sa- 
tisfactory disproof of these circumstances (as the con- 
tradiction of the accused is always received withcau- 
tion and distrust) rested in the proof of the foul ma- 
lice andfalsehood of my accusers and their witnesses. 
The Report announced to your Majesty that those 
witnesses, whom I felt to be foul confederates in a 
base conspiracy against me, were not to be suspected 

a a 



1?8 

of unfavourable bias, and their veracity, in the judg- 
ment of the Commissioners, not to be questioned. 

Under these circumstances, Sire, what could 
I do ? Couid I forbear, injustice to myself, to an- 
nounce to your Majesty the existence of a conspi- 
racy against my honour, and my station in this 
country at least, if not against my lifer Could I 
forbear to point out to your Majesty, how long 
this intended mischief had been meditated against 
me ? Could I forbear to point out my doubts, at 
least, of the legality of the Commission, under 
which the proceeding had been had ? or to point out 
theerrors and inaccuracies, into which ttife great and 
able men, who were named in this Commission, 
under the hurry and pressure of their great official 
occupations, had fallen, in the execution of this 
duty ?. Could I forbear to state, and to urge, the 
great injustice and injury that had been done to my 
character and my honour, by opinions pronounced 
against me without hearing me ? And if, in the exe- 
cution of this great task, so essential to my honour, 
I have let drop any expressions which a colder, and 
more cautious prudence, would have checked, I ap- 
peal toyourMajesty's warm heart,and generous feel- 
ings, to suggest my excuse, and to afford my pardon. 

What I have said, I have said under the 
pressure of much misfortune^ under the provo- 
cation of great and accumulated injustice. Oh! 
Sire, to be unfortunate, and scarce to feel at li- 
berty to lament; to be cruelly used, and to 
eel it almost an offence and a duty to be silent, 



179 

is a hard lot ; but use had, in some degree inured 
me to it : But to find my misfortunes and my in- 
juries imputed to me as faults ; to be called to ac- 
count upon a charge, made against me by Lady 
Douglas, who was thought at first worthy of credit, 
although she had pledged her veracity to the fact, 
of my having admitted that I was myself the ag- 
gressor in every thing, of which I had to complain* 
has subdued all power of patient bearing ; and 
when I was called upon by the Commissioners, 
either to admit, by my silence, the guilt which 
they imputed to me, or to enter into my defence, 
in contradiction to it — no longer at liberty to re- 
main silent, I, perhaps, have not known how, with 
exact propriety, to limit my expressions. 

In happier days of my life, before my spirit had 
been yet at all lowered by my misfortunes, I 
should have beeu disposed to have met such a 
charge with the contempt which, I trust, by this 
time, Your Majesty thinks due to it; I should 
have been disposed to have defied my enemies to 
the utmost, and to have scorned to answ r er to any 
thing but a legal charge, before a competent tribu- 
nal ; but, in my present misfortunes, such force of 
mind is gone. I ought, perhaps, so far to be thank- 
ful to them for their wholesome lessons of humi- 
lity. I have, therefore, entered into this long de- 
tail, to endeavour to remove, at the first possible 
opportunity, any unfavourable impressions ; to 
rescue myself from the dangers which the conti- 
nuance of these suspicions might occa: ion, and to 



180 

preserve to me your Majesty's good opinion, in 
whose kindness, hitherto, T have found infinite 
consolation, and to whose justice^ under all cir- 
cumstances, I can confidently appeal. 

Under the impression of these sentiments I 
throw myself at your Majesty's feet. I know, that 
whatever sentiments of resentment; whatever wish 
for redress, by the punishment of my false ac- 
cusers, 1 ought to feel, Your Majesty, as the Fa- 
ther of a Stranger, smarting under false accusa- 
tion, as the Head of your illustrious House, dis- 
honoured in me, and as the great Guardian of the 
Laws of your K'ngdom, thus foully attempted to 
have been applied to the purposes of injustice, will 
not fail to feel for me. At all events, I trust your 
Majesty will restore me to the blessing of your 
Gracious Presence, and confirm to me, by your 
own Gracious Words, your satisfactory conviction 
of my innocence. 

I am, 
Sire, 
With every sentiment of Gratitude and Loyalty, 
Your Majesty's most affectionate 
and dutiful Daughter-in-Law, 

Subject and Servant, 
C.R 
Montague-House, 2d October, 1806\ 



181 



The Deposition of Thomas Manly \ Esquire, a 
Captain in the Royal Navy. 

Having bad read to me the following passage, from 
the Copy of a Deposition of Robert Bidgood, sworn the 
6th of June last, before Lords Spencer and Grenville, 
viz. 

" I was waiting one day in the anti-room ; Captain 
" Manby had his hat in his hand, and appeared to 
" be going away ; he was a long time with the 
" Princess, and, as I stood on the steps, wailing, I 
" looked into the room in which they were, and, in 
" the reflection on the looking-glass, I saw them sa- 
" lute each other — I mean, that they kissed each 
" other's lips. Captain Manby then went away. 
" I then observed the Princess have her bandker- 
" chief in her hands, and wipe her eyes, as if she 
" was crying, and went into the drawing-room." 
I do solemnly, and upon my oath, declare, that the said 
passage is a vile and wicked invention ; that it is wholly 
and absolutely false ; that is impossible he ever could have 
seen, in the reflection or any glass, any such thing ; as I 
never, upon any occasion, or in any situation, ever had 
the presumption to salute Her Royal Highness in any such 
manner, or to take any such liberty, or offer any such in- 
sult to her person. And having had read to me another 
passage, from the same Copy of the same Deposition, in 
which the said Robert Bidgood says — 

" I suspected that Captain Manby slept frequently in 
" the house; it was a subject of conversation in the 
v house. Hints were given by the servants; and I 
" believe that others suspected it as well as myself." 
I solemnly swear, that such suspicion is wholly un- 
founded, and, that I never did, at Montague House, 
Southend, Ramsgate East Cliff, or any where else, ever 



182 

sleep in any house occupied by, or belonging to Her Royal 
Highness the Princess of Wales ; and that (here never did 
any thing pass between her Royal Highness the Princess 
of Wales and myself, that 1 should be in any degree un- 
willing that all the world should have seen. 

(Signed) THO. MANBY. 

Sworn at the Public Office, 

Hatton Garden, London, 

the 22d day of September, 

1806, before me, 

(Signed) THOMAS LEACH. 



The Deposition of Thomas Lawrence, of Greek 
Street, Soho, in the County of Middlesex* 
Portrait Painter* 

Having had read to me the following Extract from a 
Copy of a Deposition of William Cole, purporting to have 
been sworn before Lords Spencer and Grenville, the 10th 
day of June, 1806, viz. 

" Mr. Lawrence, the painter, used to go to Montague 
" House about the latter end of 1801, when he was 
" painting the Princess, and he has slept in the house 
" two or three nights together. I have often seen 
" him alone with the Princess at eleven or twelve 
* c o'clock at night ; he has been there as late as one 
u or two o'clock in the morning. One night I saw 
l f him with the Princess in the blue room after the 
" ladies had ietired ; sometime afterwards, when I 
" supposed be was gone to his bed-room, I went to 
" see that all was safe, and found c tbe blue room door 
" locked, and heard a whispering in it, and then 
" went away." 



183 

I do solemnly, and upon my oath, depose, that having 
received the commands of Her Royal Highness the Prin- 
cess of Wales to paint Her Royal Highness's Portrait, 
and that of the Princess Charlotte ; I attended for that 
purpose at Montague House, Blackheath, several times 
about the beginning of the year 1801, and having been 
informed that Sir William Beechey, upon a similar occa- 
sion, had slept in the house, for the greater convenience 
of executing his painting; and it having been intimated 
to me, that I might probably be allowed the same advan- 
tage, I signified my wish to avail myself of it ; and ac- 
cordingly I did sleep at Montague House several nights; 
—that frequently, when employed upon this painting, and 
occasionally, between the close of a day's sitting and the 
time of Her Royal Highness dressing for dinner, I have 
been alone in Her Royal Highness's presence ; I have 
likewise been graciously admitted to Her Royal High- 
ness's presence in the evenings, and remained there til! 
twelve, one, and two o'clock ; but, I do solemnly swear, 
I was never alone in the presence of Her Royal Highness 
in an evening, to the best of my recollection and belief, 
except in one single instance, and that for a short time, 
when I remained wiih her Royal Highness in the blue- 
room, or drawing-room, as I remember, to answer some 
question which had been put to me, at the moment I was 
about to retire together with the ladies in waiting, who had 
been previously present as well as myself; and, though I 
cannot recollect the particulars of the conversation which 
then took place, I do solemnly swear, that nothing passed 
between Her Royal Highness and myself, which I could 
have had the least objection for all the world to have seen 
and heard. And I do further, upon my oath, solemnly 
declare, that I never was alone in the presence of Her 
Royal Highness in any other place, or in any other way, 
than as above described ; and that neither, upon the oc« 
casion last mentioned, nor upon any other, was I ever in 
the presence of Her Royal Highness, in any room what- 



184 

ever, with the door locked, bolted, or fastened, otherwise 
than in the common and usual manner, which leaves it in 
the power of any person on the outside of the door to open 
it. 

(Signed) THOMAS LAWRENCE. 

Sworn at the Public Office, 
Hatton Garden, this 24th 
day of September, 1806, 
before me, 

(Signed) THOMAS LEACH. 



The Deposition of Thomas Edmeades, of Green- 
wich, in the County of Kent, Surgeon. 

On Tuesday, May 20, 1806, 1 waited upon Earl Moira, 
by his appointment, who, having introduced me to Mr. 
Conant, a Magistrate for Westminster, proceeded to 
mention a charge preferred against me, by one of the fe- 
male servants of Her Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales, of my having said, that Her Royal Highness had 
been pregnant. His Lordship then asked me, if I had 
not bled Her Royal Highness ; and whether, at that time, 
I did not mention to a servant, that I thought Her Royal 
Highness in 'he family way; and whether 1 did not also 
ask, at the same time, if the Prince had been down io 
Montague House. I answered, that it had never entered 
my mind that Her Royal Highness was in such a situation, 
and that, therefore, certainly, I never made the remark 
to any one; nor had I asked whether His Royal High- 
ness had visited the house: — I said, that, at that time, a 
report, of the nature alluded to, was prevalent ; but that I 
treated it as the infamous lie of the day. His Lordship 



285 

adverted to the circumstances of Her Royal Highnesses 
having taken a child into her house ; and observed, how 
dreadful mistakes about succession to the throne were, 
and what confusion might be caused by any claim of this 
child: I observed, that I was aware of it ; but repeated 
the assertion, that J had never thought of such a thing as 
was suggested, and therefore considered it impossible, in 
a manner, that I could have given it utterance. I ob- 
served, that I believed, in the first instance, Mr. Stike- 
man, the page, had mentioned this child to Her Royal 
Highness, and that it came from Deptford, where I went, 
when Her Royal Highness first took it, to see if any ill- 
ness prevailed in the family. Mr Conant observed, that 
he believed it was not an unusual thing for a medical man, 
when he imagined that a Lady was pregnant, to mention 
his suspicion to some confidential domestic in the family : 
— 1 admitted the bare possibility, if such had been my 
opinion; but remarked, that the if must have been re- 
moved, before 1 could have committed myself in so absurd 
a manner. 

Lord Moira, in a very significant manner, with his 
hands behind him, his head over one shoulder, his eyes 
directed towards me, with a sort of smile, observed, " that 
he could not help thinking that there must be something 
in the servant's deposition;" as if he did not give perfect 
credit to what I had said. He observed, that the matter 
was then confined to the knowledge of a few : and that he 
had hoped, if there- had been any foundation for the affi- 
davit, I might have acknowledged it, that the affair 
might have been hushed. With respect to the minor 
question, I observed, that it was not probable that I 
should condescend to ask any such question, as that im- 
puted to me, of a menial servant ; and that I was not in 
the habits of conferring confidentially with servants. Mr. 
Conant cautioned me to be on my guard ; as, that if it 
appeared, on further investigation, I had made such in- 
quiry, it might be very unpleasant to me, should it come 

Bb 



186 

under the consideration of the Privy Council. I said, that 
I considered the report as a malicious one ; and was ready 
to make oath, before any Magistrate, that I had not, at 
any time, asserted, or even thought, that her Royal 
Highness had ever been in a state of pregnancy since I 
had had the honour of attending the household. Mr. 
Conant asked me, whether, whilst I was bleeding her 
Royal Highness, or after I had performed the operation, I 
did not make some comment on the situation of her 
Royal Highness, from the state of the blood ; and whether 
I recommended the operation : I answered in the nega- 
tive to both questions. I said, that her Royal Highness 
fead sent for me to bleed her, and that I did not then re- 
collect on what account. I said, that I had bled her 
Royal Highness twice ; but did not remember the dates. 
I asked Lord Moira, whether he intended to proceed in 
the business, or whether I might consider it as at rest, 
that I might have an opportunity, if I thought necessary, 
of consulting my friends relative to the mode of conduct 
I ought to adopt : lie said, that if the subject was moved 
any further, I should be apprized of it; and that, at pre- 
sent, it was in the hands of a few. I left them, and, in 
fibout an hour, on further consideration, wrote the note, 
of which the following is a copy, to which I never re- 
ceived any reply : 

" Mr. Edmeades presents Jiis respectful compliments to 
"Lord Moira, and, on mature deliberation, after leaving 
" his Lordship > upon the conversation which passed at 
" Lord Moira's this morning, he feels it necessary to ad- 
4< vise with some friend, on the propriety of making the 
;i particulars of that conversation known to her Royal 
" Highness the Princess of Wales-; as Mr. Edmeades 
•" would be very sorry that her Royal Highness should 
f* consider him capable of such infamous conduct as that 
" imputed to him on the deposition of a servant, by Lord 
% Moira, this morning. 

" London, MayW % 1806." 



187 

1 have been enabled to state the substance of ray inter* 
view with Lord Moira and Mr. Conant with the more 
particularity, as I made memorandums of it, within a day 
or two afterwards. And I do further depose, that the 
Papers hereunto annexed, marked A. and B. are in the 
hand-writing of Samuel Gillam Mills, of Greenwich afore- 
said, my Partner ; and that he is at present, as I verily 
believe, upon his road from Wales, through Gloucester, 
to Bath. 

(Signed) THOS. EDMEADES. 

Sworn at the Public Office, 

Hatton Garden, this 26th 

day of September, 1806, 

(Signed) THOMAS LEACH. 



(A.) 



Memorandums of the Heads of Conversation between 
Lord Moira, Mr. Lowten, and myself. 

May 14, 1806. 

May 13, 1806, I received a letter from Lord Moira, of 
which the following is an exact copy i 

St. James-Place, May 13, 1806, 
Sir, 

A particular circumstance makes me desire to have the 
pleasure of seeing you, and, indeed, renders it indispen- 
sable that you should take the trouble of calling on me. 
As the trial in Westminster Hall occupies the latter hours 
of the day, I musj, beg you to be with me as early as nine 



188 



o'clock, to-morrow morning ; iu the mean time, it will 
be better that you should not apprize any one of my hav- 
ing requested you to converse with me. 
I have the honour, Sir, to be 

Your obedient servant. 

(Signed) MOIRA. 

To Mr. Mills. 
This is the Paper A. referred 
to by the Affidavit of Tho- 
mas Ednieades, sworn be- 
fore me this 26th Septem- 
ber, 1806, 

THOMAS LEACH. 



(B.) 



In consequence of the above letter I wailed on his 
Lordship, exactly at nine o'clock. In less than five mi- 
nutes I was admitted into his room, and by him received 
very politely. He began the conversation by stating, he 
wished to converse with me on a very delicate subject ; 
that I might rely on his honour, that what passed was to 
be in perfect confidence ; It was his duty to his Prince, as 
his Counsellor, to inquire into the subject, which he had 
known for some time ; and the inquiry was due also to my 
character. He then stated, that a deposition had been 
made by a domestic of her Royal Highness the Princess 
of Wales, deposing, as a declaration made by ine, that 
her Royal Highness was pregnant, and that I made in- 
quiries when interviews might have taken place with the 
Prince. I answered, that I never had declared the Prin^ 
cess to be with child, nor ever made the inquiries stated; 
that the declaration was an infamous falsehood. — This 



18.9 

being expressed with some warmth, his Lordship observed, 
that I might have made the inquiries very innocently, 
conceiving, that her Royal Highness could not be in 
that situation but by the Prince. I repeated my assertion 
of the falsehood of the declaration, adding, that though 
the conversation was intended to be confidential, I felt 
my character strongly attacked by the declaration, there- 
fore it was necessary that the declaration should be inves- 
tigated ; I had no doubt but the character 1 had so many 
years maintained, would make my assertion believed be- 
fore the deposition of a domestic. I then requested to 
know, what date the declaration bore? His Lordship 
said, he did not remember; but he had desired the Soli- 
citor to meet me, who would shew it me. I then ob- 
served, that I should in confidence communicate to his 
Lordship, why I was desirous to know the date; I then 
stated to his Lordship, that soon after her Royal High- 
ness came to Biacklieatn, I attended her in art illness, 
with Sir Francis Millman, in which I bled her twice. — 
Soon after her recovery, she thought proper to form a re- 
gular medical appointment, and appointed myself and 
Mr. Edmeades to be Surgeons and Apothecaries to her 
Royal Highness; on receiving a warrant for such ap- 
pointment, I declined accepting the honour of being ap- 
pointed Apothecary, being inconsistent with my character, 
being educated as Surgeon, and having had an honorary 
degree of Physic conferred on me; her Royal Highness 
condescended to appoint me her Surgeon only. His 
Lordship rang to know if Mr. Lowten was come ; he was 
in the next room. His Lordship left me for a few mi- 
nutes, returned, and introduced me to Mr. Lowten with 
much politeness — as Dr. Mills ; repealing the assurance 
of what passed being confidential. I asked Mr. Lowten 
the date of the declaration, that had been averted to be 
made by me? He said, in the year 1802. I I hen, with 
permission of his Lordship, gave the history of my ap- 



ISO 

point merit, adding, since then I had nctcr seen the Prin- 
cess as a patient. Once she sent for me to bleed her ; I 
was from home ; Mr. Edmeades went ; nor had I visited 
any one in the house, except one Mary, and that was in a 
very bad case of surgery; I was not sure whether it was 
before or after my appointment. Mr. Lowten asked me 
the date of it ; I told him I did not recollect. He ob- 
served, from the warmth of my expressing my contradic- 
tion to the deposit ion, that I saw it in a wrong light; that 
I might suppose, and very innocently, her Royal High- 
ness to be pregnant, and then the inquiries were as inno- 
cently made. I answered, that the idea of pregnancy 
never entered my head ; that I never attended her Royal 
Highness in any sexual complaint; whether she ever had 
any I never knew. Mr. Lowten said, I might think so, 
from her increase of size ; I answered no, 1 never did 
think her pregnant, therefore could never say it, and that 
the deposition was an infamous falsehood. His Lord- 
ship then observed, that he perceived there must be a 
mistake, and that Mr. Edmeades was the person meant, 
whom he wished to see ; I said, he was then at Oxford, 
and did not return before Saturday ; his Lordship asked, 
if he came through London ; I said, I could not tell. 

Finding nothing now arising from conversation, I asked 
to retire ; his Lordship attended me out of the room with 
great politeness, 

When I came home, I sent his Lordship a letter, with 
the date of my warrant, April 10, 1801 ; he answered my 
letter, with thanks for my immediate attention, and wished 
to see Mr. Edmeades on Sunday morning. This letter 
came on the Saturday ; early on the Sunday I sent Ti- 
mothy, to let his Lordship know Mr. Edmeades would 
not return till Monday ; on Tuesday I promised he should 
attend, which he did. 



lgi 

The preceding Memorandum is an exact copy of what 
I made the day after I had seen Lord Moira. 

(Signed) SAM. GILLAM MILLS, 

Croome Hill, Greenwich , 
Aug, 20, 1S06. 
This is the Paper marked B. 
referred to by the Affida- 
vit of Thomas Edmeades, 
sworn before me this 26th 
September, 1806, 

(Signed) THOMAS LEACH. 



The Deposition of Jonathan Partridge, Porter to 
Lord Eardley, at Belvidere. 

I remember being informed by Mr. Kenny, Lord 
Eardley 's late Steward, now dead, that I was wanted by- 
Lord Moira, in town; accordingly! went with Mr. 
Kenny to Lord Moira's, in Saint JamesVplace, on the 
King's Birth-day of 1S04. His Lordship asked me, if I 
remembered the Princess coming to Belvidere sometime 
before? I said, yes, and told him that there were two or 
three ladies, 1 think three, with her Royal Highness, and 
a gentleman with them, who came on horseback ; that 
they looked at the pictures in the house, had their lun- 
cheon there, and that her Royal Highness's servants 
waited upon them, as I was in dishabille. His Lordship 
asked me whether they went up stairs ? and I told him 
that they did not. He asked me, how long they staid ? 
and I said, as far as I recollected, they did not stay above 
an hour, or an hour and a quarter ; that they waited some 
little time for the carriage, which had gone to the public- 
house, and, till it came, they walked up and down alto- 
gether in the portico before the house. His Lordship, in 
the course of what he said to me, said it was a subject of 



I 9 2 

importance, and might be of consequence. His Lordship, 
finding that I had nothing more to say, told mef might 

go- 
Sometime afterwards, his Lordship sent forme again, 
and asked me, if I was sure of what J said, being all that I 
could say respecting the Princess ? I said, it was ; and 
that I was ready to take nay oath of it, if his Lordship 
thought proper. He said, it was very satisfactory; said, 
I might go, and he should not want me any more 

*" (Signed) JONATHAN PARTRIDGE. 
Sworn at the County Court of 
Middlesex, in Full wood's 
Rents, the 25th day of Sep- 
tember, 1S06, before me, 

(Signed) THOMAS LEACH. 



The Deposition of Philip Krackeler, one of the Foot- 
men of Her Royal Highness the Princess of 
IVales, and Robert Eaglestone, Park Keeper to 
Her Royal Highness the P?incess of JValesr 

These Deponents say, that on, or about the 2Sth day 
of June last, as they were walking together across Green- 
wich Park, they saw Robert Bidgood, one of the Pages 
of her Royal Highness, walking, in a direction, as if he 
were going from the town of Greenwich, towards the 
house of Sir John Douglas, and which is a different road 
from that which leads to Montague House, and they at the 
same time perceived Lady Douglas walking in a direction 
to meet him. And this Deponent, Philip Krackeler, than 
desired the other Deponent to take notice, whether Lady 
Douglas and Mr. Bidgood would speak to each pther ; 



193 

and both of these Deponents observed, that when Lady 
Douglas and Mr. Bidgood met, they stopped, and con- 
versed together for the space of about two or three mi- 
nuees, whilst in view of these Deponents •, but how much 
longer their conversation lasted these Deponents cannot 
say, as they, these Deponents, proceeded on their road, 
which took them out of sight of Lady Douglas and Mr. 
Bidgood. 

(Signed) PHILIP KRACKELER. 

ROBT. EAGLESTONE. 

Sworn at the Public Office, 
IJatton Garden, this 27th 
day of September^ 1806, 
before me, 

(Signed) THOMAS LEACH. 



To the King, 



Sire, 

I trust your Majesty, who knows my constant 
affection, loyalty, and duty, and the sure confi- 
dence with which I readily repose my honour, 
my character, my happiness in your Majesty's 
hands, will not think me guilty of any disrespect- 
ful or unduteous impatience, when I thus again 
address myself to your Royal grace and justice. 

It is, Sire, nine weeks to-day, since my counsel 
presented to the Lord High Chancellor my letter 
to your Majesty, containing my observations, in 
vindication of my honour and innocence^ upon the 

c c 



194 

Report, presented to your Majesty by the Com- 
missioners, who had been appointed to examine 
into my conduct. The Lord Chancellor informed 
my counsel, that the letter should be conveyed to 
your Majesty on that very day ; and further, was 
pleased, in about a week or ten days afterwards, 
to communicate to my Solicitor, that your Ma- 
jesty had read my letter, and that it had been 
transmitted to his Lordship with directions that it 
should be copied for the Commissioners, and that 
when such copy had been taken, the original 
should be returned to your Majesty. 

Your Majesty's own gracious and royal mind 
will easily conceive what must have been my state 
of anxiety and suspence, whilst I have been fondly 
indulging in the hope, that every day, as it passed, 
would bring me the happy tidings, that your Majes- 
ty was satisfied of my innocence ; and convinced 
of the unfounded malice of my enemies, in every 
part of their charge. Nine long weeks of daily 
expectation, and suspence, have now elapsed ; and 
they have brought me nothing but disappointment. 
I have remained in total ignorance of what has been 
done, what is doing, or what is intended upon this 
subject. Your Majesty's goodness will therefore 
pardon me, if in the step which I now take, I act 
upon a mistaken conjecture with respect to the fact. 
But from the Lord Chancellor's communication to 
my Solicitor, and from the time which has elapsed, 
I am led to conclude, that your Majesty had direct- 
ed the copy of my letter to be laid before the Com- 



193 

missioners, requiring their advice upon the subject ; 
and, possibly, their official occupations, and their 
other duties to the state, may not have, as yet, al- 
lowed them the opportunity of attending to it. 
But your Majesty will permit me to observe that, 
however excusable this delay may be on their parts, 
yet it operates most injuriously upon me ; my 
feelings are severely tortured by the suspence, while 
my character js sinking in the opinion of the public. 
It is known that a Report, though acquitting 
me of crime, yet imputing matters highly dis- 
reputable to my honour, has been made to your 
Majesty ; — that that Report has been communicated 
to me ;— that I have endeavoured to answer it ; and 
that I still remain, at the end of nine weeks from 
the delivery of my answer, acquainted with the 
judgment which is formed upon it. May I be 
permitted to observe from the extreme prejudice 
which this delay, however to be accounted for by 
the numerous important occupations of the Com- 
missioners, produces to my honour ? The world, 
in total ignorance of the real state of the facts, begin 
to infer my guilt from it. I feel myself already 
sinking, in the estimation of your Majesty's subjects, 
as well as of what remains to me of my own family, 
into (a state intolerable to a mind conscious of its 
purity and innocence) a state in which my honour 
appears at least equivocal, and my virtue is suspected. 
From this state I humbly entreat your Majesty to 
perceive, that I can have no hope of being restored, 
until either your Majesty's favourable opinion shall 
be graciously notified to the world, by receiving me 



!96 

again into the Royal Presence, or until the fall dis- 
closure of the facts shall expose the malice of my 
accusers, and do away every possible ground for un- 
favourable inference and conjecture. 

The various calamities with which it has pleased 
God of late to afflict me, I have endeavoured to 
bear, and I trust T have borne with humble resigna- 
tion to the Divine will. But the effect of this in- 
famous charge, and the delay which has suspended 
its final termination, by depriving me of the con- 
solation which I should have received from your 
Majesty's presence and kindness, have given a 
heavy addition to them all ; and surely my bitterest 
enemies could hardly wish that they should be in- 
creased. But on this topic, as possibly not much 
affecting the justice, though it does the hardship, of 
my case, I forbear to dwell. 

Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to re- 
collect, that an occasion of assembling the Royal 
Family and your subjects, in dutiful and happy com- 
memoration of her Majesty's Birth-day, is now 
near at hand. If the increased occupations which 
the approach of Parliament may occasion, or any 
other cause, should prevent the Commissioners from 
enabling your Majesty to communicate your pleasure 
to me before that time ; the world will infallibly 
conclude, (in their present state of ignorance), that 
my answer must have proved unsatisfactory, and 
that the infamous charges have been thought to be 
but too true. 

These considerations, Sire, will I trust, in your 
Majesty's gracious opinion, rescue this address 



W 

from all imputation of impatience. For, your Ma- 
jesty's sense of honourable feeling will naturally 
suggest, how utterly impossible it is that I, consci- 
ous of my own innocence, and believing that the 
malice of my enemies has been completely detected, 
can, without abandoning all regard to my interests, 
my happiness, and my honour, possibly be con- 
tented to perceive the approach of such utter ruin 
to my character, and yet wait, with patience, and in 
silence, till it overwhelms me. 1 therefore take 
this liberty of throwing myself again at your Ma- 
jesty's feet, and entreating and imploring of your 
Majesty's goodness and justice, in pity for my mi- 
series, which this delay so severely aggravates, and 
in justice to my innocence and character, to urge 
the Commissioners to an early communication of 
their advice. 

To save your Majesty and the Commissioners all 
unnecessary trouble, as well as to obviate all proba- 
bility of further delay, I have directed a duplicate of 
this letter to be prepared, and have sent one copy of 
jt through the Lord Chancellor, and another through 
folonel Taylor, to your Majesty. 

I am, 

Sire, 
With every sentiment of gratitude and loyalty, 
Your Majesty's most affectionate, 
and dutiful Daughter-in-law, 

Servant and Subject. 

C. P, 

Montague House, Dec. 8, 1806. 



198 
MINUTE OF THE CABINET, Jan. 25, 1807. 

Dozening Street, Jan. 25, I807. 

PRESENT, 

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Viscount Howick, 
Lord President, Lord Grenville, 

Lord Privy Seal, Lord Ellenborouoh, 

Earl Spencer, Mr. Secretary Windham, 

Earl of Moir a, Mr. Grenville. 

Lord Henry Petty, 

Your Majesty's Confidential Servants have given 
the most diligent and attentive consideration to the 
matters on which your Majesty has been pleased to 
require their opinion and advice. They trust your 
Majesty will not think that any apology is necessary 
on their part for the delay which has attended their 
deliberations, on a subject or such extreme impor- 
tance, and which they have found to be of the 
greatest difficulty and embarrassment. 

They are fully convinced that it never can have 
been your Majesty's intention to require from them, 
that they should lay before your Majesty a detailed 
and circumstantial examination and discussion of 
the various arguments and allegations contained in 
the letter submitted to your Majesty, by the Law 
Advisers of the Princess of Wales. And they beg 
leave, with all humility, to represent to your Ma- 
jesty that the Laws and Constitution of their coun- 
try have not placed them in a situation in which 



199 

they can conclusively pronounce on any question 
of guilt or innocence affecting any of your Majesty's 
subjects, much less one of your Majesty's Royal Fa- 
mily. They have, indeed, no power or authority 
whatever to enter on such a course of inquiry as 
could alone lead to any final results of such a nature. 

The main question on which they had conceived 
themselves called upon by their duty to submit 
theiradvice to your Majesty was this : Whether the 
circumstances which had, by your Majesty's com- 
mands, been brought before them, were of a nature 
to induce your Majesty to order any farther steps to 
be taken upon them by your Majesty's Govern- 
ment ? And on this point they humbly submit to 
your Majesty, that the advice which they offered 
was clear and unequivocal. Your Majesty has since 
been pleased further to require, that they should 
submit to your Majesty their opinions as to the an- 
swer to be given by your Majesty to the request con- 
tained in the Princess's letter, and as to the manner 
in which that answer should be communicated to 
her Royal Highness. 

They have, therefore, in dutiful obedience to your 
Majesty's commands, proceeded to reconsider the 
whole of the subject, in this new view of it; and 
after much deliberation, they have agreed humbly 
to recommend to your Majesty, the draft of a Mes- 
sage, which if approved by your Majesty, they would 
humbly suggest your Majesty might send to her 
Royal Highness through the Lord Chancellor. 

Having before humbly solicited to your Majesty 
their opinion, that the facts of case did not warrant 
their advising that any further steps should be taken 



200 

upon it by your Majesty's Government, they have 
not thought it necessary to advise your Majesty any 
longer to decline receiving the Princess into your 
Royal presence. But the result of the whole case 
does, in their judgment, render it indispensable 
that your Majosty should, by a serious admonition, 
convey to her Royal Highness your Majesty's ex- 
pectation that her Royal Highness should be more 
circumspect in her future conduct ; and they trust 
that in the terms in which they have advised, that 
such admonition should be conveyed, your Majesty 
will not be of opinion, on a full consideration of the 
evidence and answer, that they can be considered 
as having at all exceeded the necessity of the case, 
as arising out of the last reference which your Ma- 
jesty has been pleased to make to them. 



The Lord Chancellor has the honour to present 
his most humble duty to the Princess of Wales, 
and to transmit to her Royal Highness the accom- 
panying Message from the King ; which Her Royal 
Highness will observe, he has his Majesty's com- 
mands to communicate to her Royal Highness. 

The Lord Chancellor would have done himself 
the honour to have waited personally upon Her 
Royal Highness, and have delivered it himself; 
but he considered the sending it sealed, as more 
respectful and acceptable to her Royal Highness. 
The Lord Chancellor received the original paper 
from the King yesterday, and made the copy now 
sent in his own hand. 

January Twenty-eighth, 180j f . 

To Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. 



201 



The King having referred to his confiden- 
tial Servants the proceeding and papers relative to 
the written declarations, which had been before 
His Majesty, respecting the conduct of the Prin- 
cess of Wales, has been apprised by them, that, 
after the fullest consideration of the examinations 
taken on the subject, and of the observations and 
affidavits brought forward by the Princess of 
Wales's legal sdvisers, they agree in the opinions, 
submitted to His Majesty in the original Report 
of the four Lords, by whom His Majesty directed 
that the matter should in the first instance be in- 
quired into ; and that, in the present stage of the 
business, upon a mature and deliberate view of this 
most important subject in all its parts, and bear- 
ings, it is their opinion, that the facts of this case 
do not warrant their advising that any further step 
should be taken in the business by his Majesty's 
Government, or any other proceedings instituted 
upon it, except such only as His Majesty's Law 
Servants may, on reference to them, think fit to 
rncommend, for the prosecution of Lady Douglas, 
on those parts of her depositions which may appear 
to them to be justly liable thereto. 

In this situation, His Majesty is advised, that it 
is no longer necessary for him to decline receiving 
the Princess into His Royal Presence. 

The King sees, with great satisfaction, the agree* 
ment of his confidential servants, in the decided 
opinion expressed by the four Lords, upon tho, 
falsehood of the accusations of pregnancy and de- 

d d 



202 

livery, brought forward against the Princess by 
Lady Douglas. 

On the other matters produced in the course of 
the Inquiry, the King is advised that none of 
the facts or allegations stated in preliminary ex- 
aminations, carried on in the absence of the par* 
ties interested, can be considered as legally, or 
conclusively, established. But in those examina- 
tions, and even in the answer drawn in the name of 
the Princess by her legal advisers, there have ap- 
peared circumstances of conduct on the part of the 
Princess, which his Majesty never could regard but 
with serious concern. The elevated rank which the 
Princess holds in this country, and the relation in 
which she stands to his Majesty and the Royal Fa- 
mily, must always deeply involve both the interests 
of the state, and the personal feelings of His Ma- 
jesty, in the propriety aud correctness of her con- 
duct. And his Majesty cannot therefore forbear to 
express in the conclusion of the business, his desire 
and expectation, that such a conduct may in future 
be observed by the Princess, as may fully justify 
those marks of paternal regard and affection, which 
the King always wishes to shew to every part of His 
Royal Family. 

His Majesty has directed that this message should 
be transmitted to the Princess of Wales, by his 
Lord Chancellor^ and that copies of the proceedings, 
which had taken place on the subject, should also 
be communicated to his dearly beloved Son the 
Prince of Wales. 



203 



Montague House, Jan. 29th, I807. 
Sire, 

I hasten to acknowledge the receipt of the pa- 
per, which, by your Majesty's direction, was yes- 
terday transmitted to me, by the Lord Chancellor, 
and to express the unfeigned happiness, which I 
have derived from one part of it. I mean that, 
which informs me that your Majesty V confidential 
servants have, at length, thought proper to com- 
municate to your Majesty, their advice, " that it is 
" no longer necessary for your Majesty to decline 
cc receiving me into your Royal presence." And 
I, therefore, humbly hope, that your Majesty will 
be graciously pleased to receive, with favour, the 
communication of my intention to avail myself, with 
your Majesty's permission, of that advice, for the 
purpose of waiting upon your Majesty on Monday 
next, if that day should not be inconvenient ; when I 
hope again to have the happiness of throwing myself, 
in filial duty and affection, at your Majesty's feet. 

Your JVJajesty will easily conceive, that I re- 
luctantly name so distant a day as Monday, but I do 
not feel myself sufficiently recovered from the 
measles, to venture upon so long a drive at an ear- 
lier day. Feeling, however, very anxious, to re- 
ceive again as soon as possible, that blessing* of 
which I have been so long deprived, if that day 
should happen to he, in any degree, inconvenient 
I humbly entreat, and implore, your Majesty's most 



204 

gracious and paternal goodness, to name some other 
day, as early as possible, for that purpose. 
I am, &c. 
(Signed) C. P. 

To the King. 



Windsor Castle, January 29th, 1 807. 

The King has this moment received the Princess 
of Wales's letter, in which she intimates her inten- 
tion of coming to Windsor on Monday next ; and 
his Majesty, wishing not to put the Princess to the 
inconvenience of coming to this place, so immediate- 
ly after her illness, hastens to acquaint her, that he 
shall prefer to receive her in London, upon a day 
subsequent to the ensuing week, which will also 
better suit His Majesty, and of which he will not 
fail to apprize the Princess. 

(Signed) GEORGE R. 

To the Princess ofJVales. 



Windsor Castle, February 10, 18 07. 
As the Princess of Wales may have been led to 
expect, from the King's letter to her, that he would 
fix an early day for seeing her, His Majesty thinks 
it right to acquaint her, that the Prince of Wales, 
upon receiving the several documents, which the 
King directed his Cabinet to transmit to him, made 
a formal communication to him, of his intention to 
put them into the hands of his lawyers ; accompa- 



205 

nied by a request, that His Majesty would suspend 
any further steps in the business, until the Prince 
of Wales should be enabled to submit to him, the 
statement which he proposed to make. The King 
therefore considers it incumbent upon him to defer 
naming a day to the Princess of Wales, until the 
further result of the Prince's intention shall have 
been made known to him. 

(Signed) GEORGE R, 

To the Princess of Wales, 



Montague House, February I2th 9 180f. 
Sire, 

I received yesterday, and with inexpressible 
pain, your Majesty's last communication. The 
duty of stating, in a representation to your Majesty, 
the various grounds, upon which, I feel the hard- 
ship of my case, and upon which I confidently 
think that, upon a review of it, your Majesty will 
be disposed to recal your last determination, is a 
duty I owe to myself: and I cannot forbear, at the 
moment when I acknowledge your Majesty's letter* 
to announce to your Majesty, that I propose to 
execute that duty without delay. 

After having suffered the punishment of banish- 
ment from your Majesty's presence, for seven 
months, pending an Inquiry, which your Majesty 
had directed, into my conduct, affecting both my 
life and my honour; — after that Inquiry had, at 
length, terminated in the advice of your Majesty's 



206 

confidential and sworn servants, that there was no 
longer any reason for your Majesty's declining to 
re eive me ; — if after your Majesty's gracious com- 
munication, which led me to rest assured that your 
Majesty would appoint an early day to receive me ; 
— if after all this, by a renewed application on the 
part of The Prince of Wales, upon whose commu- 
nication the first Inquiry had been directed, I now 
find that that punishment, which has been inflicted, 
pending a seven months Inquiry before the determi- 
nation, should, contrary to the opinion of your Ma- 
jesty's servants, be continued after that determina- 
tion, to await the result of some new proceeding, to 
be suggested by the lawyers of the Prince of Wales ; 
it is impossible that I can fail to assert to your Ma- 
jesty, with the effect due to truth, that I am, in the 
consciousness of my innocence, and with a strong 
sense of my unmeritted sufferings, 

Your Majestv's most dutiful, and most 

affectionate, but much injured Subject 
and Daughter-in-law, 

(Signed) C. P. 

To the King. 

Sire, 
By my short letter to Your Majesty of the 12th 
instant, in answer to Your Majesty's communica- 
tion of the 10th, 1 notified my intention of repre- 
senting to Your Majesty the various grounds, on 
which I felt the hardship of my case ; and, a re- 
view of which, I confidently hoped, would dispose 



20? 

Your Majesty to recal your determination to ad- 
journ, to an indefinite period, my reception into 
Your Royal Presence ; a determination, which, in 
addition to all the other pain which it brought 
along with it, affected me with the disappointment 
of hopes/ which I had fondly cherished, with the 
most perfect confidence, becau&e they rested on 
Your Majesty's gracious assurance. 
. Independently, however, of that communication 
from your Majesty, I should have felt myself 
bound to have troubled Your Majesty with much 
of the contents of the present letter. 

Upon the receipt of the paper which, by Your 
Majesty's commands, was transmitted to me by 
the Lord Chancellor, on the 28th of last month, 
and which communicated to me the joyful intelli- 
gence, that Your Majesty was " advised, that it 
" was no longer necessary for you to dec-line re- 
" ceiving me into Your Royal Presence," I con- 
ceived myself necesrarily called upon to send an 
immediate answer to so much of it as respected 
that intelligence. I could not wait the time, which 
it would have required, to state those observations, 
which it was impossible for me to refrain from 
making, at some period, upon the other important 
particulars which that paper contained. Accord- 
ingly, I answered it immediately ; and, as Your 
Majesty's gracious and instant reply of last Thurs- 
day fortnight, announced to me your pleasure, that 
I should be received by Your Majesty, on a day 
subsequent to the then ensuing week, I was led 
most confidently to assure myself, that the last 



208 

week would not have passed, without my having 
received that satisfaction. I therefore determined 
to wait in patience, without further intrusion upon 
Yonr Majesty, till I might have the opportunity of 
guarding myself from the possibility of being mis- 
understood, by personally explaining to Your Ma- 
jesty, that, whatever observations I had to make 
upon the paper so communicated to me, on the 
28th ultimo, and whatever complaints respecting 
the delay, and the many cruel circumstances which 
had attended the whole of the proceedings against 
me, and the unsatisfactory state, in which they 
were at length left by that last communication, they 
were observations and complaints which affected 
those only, under whose advice Your Majesty had 
acted, and were not, in any degree, intended to inti- 
mate even the most distant insinuation against Your 
Majesty's justice or kindness. 

That paper established the opinion, which I 
certainly, had ever confidently entertained, but the 
justness of which I had not before any document to 
establish, that Your Majesty had, from the first, 
deemed this proceeding a high and important 
matter of state, in the consideration of which Your 
Majesty had not felt yourself at liberty to trust to 
your own generous feelings, and to your own Royal, 
and gracious judgment. I never did believe, that 
the cruel state of anxiety, in which I had been kept, 
ever since the delivery of my Answer, (for at least 
sixteen weeks) could be at all attributable to Your 
Majesty ; it was most unlike every thing which I 
had ever experienced from Your Majesty's conde-^ 



209 

scension, feeling, and justice; and I found, from 
that Paper, that it was to your confidential servants 
I was to ascribe the length of banishment from your 
presence, which they, at last, advised Your Ma- 
jesty, it was no longer necessary should be conti- 
nued. I perceive, therefore, what I always be- 
lieved, that it was to them, and to them only, that 
I owed the protracted continuance of my sufferings, 
and of my disgrace ; and that Your Majesty, consi- 
dering the whole of this proceeding to have been 
instituted and conducted, under the grave responsi- 
bility of Your Majesty's servants, had not thought 
proper to take any step, or express any opinion, 
upon any part of it, but such as was recommended 
by their advice. Influenced by these sentiments, 
and anxious to have the opportunity of conveying 
them, with the overflowings of a grateful heart, to 
Your Majesty, what were my sensations of surprise, 
mortification, and disappointment, on the receipt 
of Your Majesty's letter of the 10th instant, Your 
Majesty may conceive, though I am utterly unable 
to express. 

That Letter announces to me, that his Royal 
Highness the Prince of Wales, upon receiving the 
several documents which your Majesty directed your 
Cabinet to transmit to him, made a personal com- 
munication to your Majesty of his intention to put 
them into the hands of his Lawyers, accompanied 
by a request, that your Majesty would suspend any 
further steps in the business, until the Prince of 
Wales should be enabled to submit to your Majesty 

e e 



210 

the statement which he proposed to make ; and it 
also announces to me that your Majesty therefore 
considered it incumbent on you, to defer naming a 
day to me, until the further result of the Prince of 
Wales's intention should have been made known to 
your Majesty. 

This determination of your Majesty, on this re- 
quest, made by his Royal Highness, I humbly trust 
} T our Majesty will permit me to entreat you, in your 
most gracious justice, to reconsider. Your Majesty, 
I am convinced, must have been surprised at the 
time, and prevailed upon by the importunity of the 
Prince of Wales, to think this determination ne- 
cessary, or } our Majesty's generosity and justice 
.would never have adopted it. And if I can satisfy 
your Majesty of the unparalleled injustice, and cru- 
elty of tills interposition of the Prince of Wales, at 
such a time, and under such circumstances, I feel 
the most perfect confidence that your Majesty will 
hasten to recall it. 

I should basely he wanting to my own interest 
and feelings, if I did not plainly state my sense of 
that injustice, and cruelty ; and if f did not most 
loudly coin plain of it. Your Majesty will better 
perceive the just grounds of my complaint, when T 
retrace the course of these proceedings from their 
commencement. 

The four noble Lords, appointed by your Majesty 
to inquire into the charges brought against me, in 
their Report of the 1 4th of July last, after having sta- 
ted that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales 



2H 



had had laid before him, the charge which was made 
against me by Lady Douglas, and the declaration in 
support of it, proceed in the following manner. 

* " In the painful situation in which his lloyai 
" Highness was placed by these communications, 
" we learnt that His Royal Highness had adopted 
" the only course which could, in our judgment, 
" with propriety be followed. When informations 
" such as these had been thus confidently alleged, 
" and particularly detailed, and had been in some 
" degree supported by collateral evidence, applying 
u to other facts of the same nature, (though going 
" to a far less extent.) one line only could be pur- 
" sued. 

" Every sentiment of duty to your Majesty, and 
" of concern for the public welfare, required that 
" these particulars should not be withheld from 
" your Majesty, to whom more particularly be- 
u " longed the cognizance of a matter of State, so 
" nearly touching the honour of your Majesty's 
" Royal Family, and, by possibility, affecting the 
" succession of your Majesty's Crown. 

iC Your Majesty had been pleased, on your part, 
il to view the subject in the same light. Consider- 
" ing it as a matter which, on every account, de- 
u manded the most immediate investigation, your 
" Majesty had thought fit to commit into our hands 
" the duty of ascertaining, in the first instance, 
" what degree of credit was due to the information, 
" and thereby enabling your Majesty to decide 
" what further conduct to adopt respecting them/' 

* Report, p. 6. ante. 



212 

His Royal Highness then, pursuing, as the four 
Lords say, the only course, which could in their 
judgment, with propriety, be pursued, submitted 
the matter to your Majesty. — Your Majesty direct- 
ed the Inquiry by the four noble Lords. — The 
four Lords in their Report upon the case, justly 
acquitted me ot all crime, and expressed (I will not 
wait now to say how unjustly) the credit which 
they gaYe, and the consequence they ascribed to 
other matters, which they did not, however, cha- 
racterize as amounting to any crime. — To this Re- 
port I made my answer. — That answer, together 
with the whole proceedings, was referred by your 
Majesty, to the same four noble Lords, and others 
of your Majesty's confidential servants. They ad- 
vised \ our Majesty, amongst much other matter, 
{which must be the subject of further observations) 
that there was no longer any reason why you should 
decline receiving me. 

Your Majesty will necessarily conceive that I 
have always looked upon my banishment from 
your Royal Presence, as, in fact, a punishment, 
and a severe one too. I thought it sufficiently 
hard, that I should have been suffering that punish- 
ment, during the time that this Inquiry has been 
pending, while I was yet only under accusation, and 
upon the principles of the just laws of your Ma- 
jesty's kingdom, entitled to be presumed to be 
innocent, till I was proved to be guilty. But I 
find this does not appear to be enough, in the opi- 
nion of the Prince of Wales. For now, when 



213 

alter this long Inquiry, into matters which required 
immediate investigation, I have been acquitted of 
every thing which could call for my banishment 
from your Royal Presence; — after your Majesty's 
confidential servants have thus expressly advised 
your Majesty that they see no reason why you 
should any longer decline to receive me into your 
presence ; — after your Majesty had graciously noti- 
fied to me, your determination to receive me at an 
early day, His Royal Highness interposes the de- 
mand of a new delay ; desires your Majesty not to 
take any step ; desires you not to act upon the ad- 
vice which your own confidential servants have given 
you, that you need no longer decline seeing me; — 
not to execute your intention, and assurance, that 
you would receive me at an early day ; — because 
he has laid the documents before his Lawyers, and 
intends to prepare a further statement. And the 
judgment of your Majesty's confidential servants, 
is, as it were, appealed from by the Prince of 
Wales, (whom, from this time, at least, I must be 
permitted to consider as assuming the character of 
my accuser) ; — the justice due to me is to be sus- 
pended, while the judgment of your Majesty's 
sworn servants is to be submitted to the revision 
of my accuser's Counsel ; and I, though acquitted, 
in the opinion of your Majesty's confidential ser- 
vants, of all that should induce your Majesty to de- 
cline seeing me, am to haye that punishment, 
which had been inflicted upon me, during the In- 
quiry, continued after that acquittal, till a fresh 



214 

statement is prepared, to be again submitted, for 
aught I know, to another Inquiry, of as extended 
a continuance as that which has just terminated. 

Can it be said that the proceedings of the four 
ricble Lords, or of your Majesty's confidential ser- 
vants, have been so lenient, and considerate towards 
me and my feelings, as to induce a suspicion that 
I have been too favourably dealt with by them ? 
and that the advice which has been given to your 
Majesty, that your Majesty need no longer decline 
to receive me, was hastily and partially delivered ? 
I am confident, that your Majesty must see the 
very reverse of this to be the case — that I have 
every reason to complain of the inexplicable delay 
which so lon£ withheld that advice. And the 
whole character of the observations with which they 
accompanied it, marks the reluctance with which 
they yielded to the necessity of giving it. 

For your Majesty's confidential servants advise 
your Majesty, " that it is no longer necessary for 
" you to decline receiving me into your Royal 
" Presence." If this is their opinion and their ad- 
vice now, why was it not their opinion and their 
advice four months ago, from the date of my an- 
swer ? Nay, why was it not their opinion and 
advice from the date even of the original Report 
itself ? For not only had they been in possession 
of my answer for above sir teen weeks*, which at 
least furnished them with all the materials on which 
this advice at length was given, but further, your 
Majesty's confidential servants ar^ forward to state* 



215 

that after having read my observations, and the 
affidavits which they annexed to them, they agree 
in the opiinmis (not in any single opinion upon any 
particular branch of the ease, but in the opniom 
generally) which were submitted to your Majesty, 
in the original Report of the four Lords. If there- 
fore (notwithstanding their concurrence in all the 
opinions contained in the Report) they have never- 
theless given to your Majesty their advice, " that 
" it is no longer necessary for yon to decline re- 
4i ceiving me f ' — what could have prevented their 
offering that advice, even from the 14th of Juiy, 
the date of the original Report itself? Or what 
could have warranted the withholding of it, even 
for single moment? Instead, therefore, of any 
trace being observable, of hasty, precipitate, and 
partial determination in my favour, it is impossible 
to interpret their conduct and their reasons toge- 
ther in any other sense, than as amounting to an 
admission of your Majesty's confidential servants 
themselves, that I have, in consequence of their 
withholding that advice, been unnecessarily and 
cruelly banished from your Royal Presence, from 
the 14th of July, to the 28th of January, including 
a space of above six months ; and the effect of the 
interposition of the Prince, is to prolong my suffer- 
ings, and my disgrace, under the same banishment, 
to a period perfectly indefinite. 

The principle which will admit the effect of 
such interposition now, may be acted upon again; 
and the Prince may require a further prolongation, 



216 

upon fresh statements, and fresh charges, kept 
back possibly for the purpose of being, from time 
to time, conveniently interposed, to prevent, for 
ever, the arrival of that hour, which, displaying 
to the world the acknowledgment of my unmerited 
sufferings and disgrace, may, at the same time, 
expose the true malicious and unjust quality of the 
proceedings which have been so long carried on 
against me. 

This unseasonable, unjust, and cruel interposi- 
tion of His Royal Highness, as I must ever deem 
it, has prevailed upon your Majesty to recall, to 
my prejudice, your gracious purpose of receiving 
v me, in pursuance of the advice of your servants. 
Do I then flatter myself too much, when I feel as- 
sured, that my just entreaty, founded upon the 
reasons which I urge, and directed to counteract 
only the effect of that unjust interposition, will in- 
duce your Majesty to return to your original deter- 
mination ? 

Restored however, as I should feel myself, to a 
state of comparative security, as well as credit, by 
being, at length, permitted, upon your Majesty's 
gracious reconsideration of your last determination, 
to have access to your Majesty ; yet, under all the 
circumstances under which I should now receive that 
mark and confirmation of your Majesty's opinion 
of my innocence, my character would not, I fear, 
stand cleared in the public opinion, by the mere 
fact of your Majesty's reception of me. This re- 
vocation of your Majesty's gracious purpose has 



si; 

flung an additional cloud about the whole proceed- 
ing, and the inferences drawn in the public mind, 
from this circumstance, so mysterious, and so per- 
fectly inexplicable, upon any grounds which are 
open to their knowledge, has made, and will leave 
so deep an impression to my prejudice, as scarce 
any thing, short of a public exposure of all that has 
passed, can possibly efface. 

The publication of all these proceedings to the 
world, then, seems to me, under the present cir- 
cumstances, (whatever reluctance I feel against such 
a measure, and however I regret the hard necessity 
which drives me to it) to be almost the only re- 
maining resource, for the vindication of my honour 
and character. The falsehood of the accusa- 
tion is, by no means, all that will, by such publica- 
tion, appear to the credit and clearance of my cha- 
racter ; but the course in which the whole proceed- 
ings have been carried on, or rather delayed^ by 
those, to whom your Majesty referred the consi- 
deration of them, will shew, that, whatever mea- 
sure of justice I may have ultimately received at 
their hands, it is not to be suspected as arising from 
any merciful and indulgent consideration of me, of 
my feelings, or of my case. 

It will be seen how my feelings had been ha- 
rassed, and my character and honour exposed, by 
the delays which have taken place in these proceed- 
ings : it will be seen, that the existence of the 
charge against me had avowedly been known to the 

Ff 



218 

public, from the Jth of June in the last year. — I 
say known to the public, because it was on that 
day that the Commisioners, acting, as I am to 
suppose, (for so they state in their Report) under 
the anxious wish, that their trust should he executed 
with as little publicity as possible, authorized that 
unnecessary insult and outrage upon me, as I must 
always consider it, which, however intended, gave 
the utmost publicity and exposure to the existence 
of these charges — I mean the sending two attor- 
nies, armed with their Lordships' warrant, to my 
house, to bring before them, at once, about one 
half of my household for examination. The idea 
of privacy, after an act, so much calculated, from 
the extraordinary nature of it> to excite the greatest 
attention and surprise, your Majesty must feel to 
have been impossible and absurd ; for an attempt 
at secrecy, mystery, and concealment, on my part, 
could, under such circumstances, only have been 
construed into the fearfulness of guilt. 

It will appear also, that from that time, I heard 
nothing authentically upon the subject till the 11th ' 
of August, when I was furnished, by your Majesty's 
commands, with the Report. The several papers 
necessary to my understanding the whole of these 
charges, in the authentic state in which your Ma- 
jesty thought it proper, graciously to direct, that I 
should have them, were not delivered to me till 
the beginning of September. My answer to these 
various charges, though the whole subject, of them 
was new to those whose advice I had recourse to 5 



219 

long as that answer was necessarily obliged to be, 
was delivered to the Lord Chancellor, to be for- 
warded to Your Majesty, by the sixth of October ; 
and, from the 6th of October to the 28th of Ja- 
nuary, I was kept in total ignoranee of the effect of 
that answer. Not only will all this delay be appa- 
rent, but it will be generally shewn to the world 
how Your Majesty's servants had, in this important 
business, treated your daughter 7 in-law, the Princess 
of Wales; and what measure of justice she, a fe- 
male, and a stranger in your land, has experienced 
at their hands. 

Undoubtedly against such a proceeding I have 
ever felt, and still feel, an almost invincible repug- 
nance. Every sentiment of delicacy, with which a 
female mind must shrink from the act of bringing 
before the public such charges, howeyer conscious 
of their scandal and falsity, and however clearly 
that scandal and falsity may be manifested by the 
answer to those charges ;— the respect still due from 
me, to persons employed in authority under your 
Majesty, however little respect I may have re- 
ceived from them ; — my duty to His Royal High- 
ness the Prince of Wales ; — my regard for all the 
members of your august Family ; — my esteem, my 
duty, my gratitude to your Majesty, — my affection- 
ate gratitude for all the paternal kindness, which I 
have ever experienced from you ; — -my anxiety, not 
only to avoid the risk of giving any offence or dis- 
pleasure to your Majesty, but also to fly from every 
occasion of creating the slightest sentiment of un« 



220 

easiness in the mind of your Majesty, whose happi- 
ness it would be the pride and pleasure of my life 
to consult and to promote ; and these various senti- 
ments have compelled me to submit, as long as hu- 
man forbearance could endure, to all the unfavour- 
able inferences which were, through this delay, daily 
increasing in the public mind. What the strength 
and efficacy of these motives have been, Your Ma- 
jesty will do me the justice to feel, when you are 
pleased, graciously, to consider how long I have 
been contented to suffer those suspicions to exist 
against my innocence, which the bringing before 
the public of my accusation and my defence to it, 
would so indisputably and immediately have 
dispelled. 

The measure, however, of making these pro- 
ceedings public, whatever mode I can adopt (con- 
sidering especially the absolute impossibility of suf- 
fering any partial production of them, and the ne- 
cessity that, if for any purpose any part of them 
should be produced, the whole must be brought 
before the public) remains surrounded with all the 
objections which I have enumerated ; and nothing 
could ever have prevailed upon me, or can now 
even prevail upon me to have recourse to it, but an 
imperious sense of indispensible duty to my future 
safety, to my present character and honour, and to 
the feelings, the character, and the interests of my 
child. I had flattered myself, when once this long 
proceeding should have terminated, in my recep- 
tion into Your Majesty's presence, that that circuit 



£21 

stance alone would have so strongly implied my in- 
nocence of all that had been brought againt me, as 
to have been perfectly sufficient for my honour and 
my security ; but accompanied, as it now must be, 
with the knowledge of the fact, that Your Majesty 
has been brought to hesitate upon its propriety, and 
accompanied also with the very unjustifiable obser- 
vations, as they appear to me, on which I shall pre- 
sently proceed to remark ; and which were made 
by your Majesty's servants, at the time when they 
gave you their advice to receive me ; I feel myself 
in a situation, in which I deeply regret that I cannot 
rest, in silence, without an immediate reception 
into your Majesty's presence ; nor, indeed, with 
that reception, unless it be attended by other cir- 
cumstances, which may mark my satisfactory ac- 
quittal of the charges which have been brought 
against me. 

It shall at no time be said, with truth, that I 
shrunk back from these infamous charges ; that I 
crouched before my enemies, and courted them, by 
my submission into moderation ? No, I have ever 
boldly defied them, I have ever felt and still feel, 
that, if they should think, either of pursuing these 
accusations, or of bringing forward any other which 
the wickedness of individuals may devise, to affect 
my honour ; (since my conscience tells me, that 
they must be, as base and groundless as those 
brought by Lady Douglas,) while the witnesses to 
the innocence of my conduct, are all living, I should 
be able to disprove them all ; and, whoever may 



222 

be my accusers, to triumph over their wickedness 
and malice. But should these accusations be re- 
newed ; or any other be brought forward, in any 
future time, death may, I know not how soon, re- 
move from my innocence its best security, and de- 
prive me of the means of my justification, and my 
defence. 

There are therefore other pleasures, which I 
trust your Majesty will think indispensable to be 
taken, for my honour, and for my security. Amongst 
these, I most humbly submit to your Majesty my 
most earnest entreaties that the proceedings, inclu- 
ding not only my first answer, and my letter of the 
8th of December, but this letter also, my be direc- 
ted by your Majesty to be so preserved and depo- 
sited, as that they may, all of them, securely remain 
permanent authentic documents and memorials, of 
this accusation and of the manner in which I met 
it ; of my defence, as well as of the charge. That 
they may remain capable at any time, of being re- 
sorted to, if the malice which produced the charge 
originally, shall ever venture to renew it. 

Beyond this, I am sure your Majesty will think 
it but proper and just, that I should be restored, in 
every respect, to the same situation, from whence 
the proceedings, under these false charges, have 
removed me. That, besides being graciously re- 
ceived, again, into the bosom of your Majesty's 
Royal Family, restored to my former respect and 
station amongst them, your Majesty will be graci- 
ously pleased, either to exert your influence, wit>b 



223 

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, that I 
may be restored to the use of my apartment in 
Carlton House, which was reserved for me, except 
while the apartments were undergoing repair, till 
the date of these proceedings ; or to assign to me 
some apartment in one of your Royal Palaces. 
Some apartment in or near to London is indispen- 
sably necessary for my convenient attendance at the 
Drawing-room. And if I am not restored to that 
at Carlton House, I trust your Majesty will graci- 
ously perceive, how reasonable it is, that I should 
request, that some apartment should be assigned 
to me, suited to my dignity and situation, which 
may mark my reception and acknowledgment, 
as one of your Majesty's family, and from which 
my attendance at the Drawing-room may be easy 
and convenient. 

If these measures are taken, I should hope that 
they would prove satisfactory to the public mind, 
and that I may feel myself fully restored in public 
estimation, to my former character. And should 
they prove so satisfactory, I shall indeed be delight- 
ed to think, that no further step may, even now, 
appear to be necessary to my peace of mind, my 
security, and my honour. 

But your Majesty will permit me to say, that if 
the next week, which will make more than a 
month from the time of your Majesty's informing 
me that you would receive me, should pass without 
my being received into your presence, and without 
having the assurance that these other requests of 



224 

mine shall be complied with ; I shall be under the 
painful necessity of considering them as refused. 
In which case, I shall feel myself compelled, how- 
ever reluctantly, to give the whole of these pro- 
ceedings to the world. Unless your Majesty can 
suggest other adequate means of securing my 
honour and my life, from the effect of the continu- 
ance or renewal of these proceedings, for the future, 
as well as the present. For I entreat your Majesty 
to believe, that it is only in the absence of all other 
adequate menns, that I can have resort to that 
measure. That I consider it with deep regret ; 
that I regard it with serious apprehension, by no 
means so much on account of the effect it may have 
upon myself; as on account of the pain which it 
may give to Your Majesty, your august Family, 
and your loyal subjects. 

As far as myself am concerned, I am aware of the 
observations to which this publication will expose 
me. But I am placed in a situation in which I have 
the choice only of two most unpleasant alternatives. 
And I am perfectly confident that the imputations 
and the loss of character which must, under these 
circumstances, follow from my silence, are most 
injurious and unavoidable; that my silence, under 
such circumstances, must lead inevitably to my 
utter infamy and ruin. The publication, on the 
other hand, will expose to the world nothing, which 
is spoken to by any witness (whose infamy and 
discredit is not unanswerably exposed and establish- 



225 

ed) which can, in the slightest degree, effect my 
character, for honour, virtue, and delicacy. 

There may be circumstances disclosed, manifest- 
ing a degree of condescension and familiarity in my 
behaviour and conduct, which in the opinions of 
many, may be consideied as not sufficiently guarded, 
dignified, and reserved. Circumstances however 
which my foreign education, and foreign habits, 
misled me to think, in the humble and retired 
situation in which it was my fate to live, and 
where I had no relation, no equal, no friend to 
advise me, were wholly free from offence. But 
when they have been dragged forward, from the 
scenes of private life, in a grave proceeding on a 
charge of High Treason and Adultery, they seem 
to derive a colour and character, from the nature 
of the charge, which they are brought forward to 
support. And I cannot but believe, that they have 
been used for no other purpose than to afford a 
cover, to screen from view the injustice of that 
charge ; that they have been taken advantage of, 
to let down my accusers more gently ; and to de- 
prive me of that full acquittal on the Report of the 
four Lords, which my innocence of all offence most 
justly entitled me to receive.. 

Whatever opinion however may be formed upon 
any part of my conduct, it must injustice be form- 
ed, with reference to the situation in which I was 
placed; if I am judged of as Princess of Wales, 
with reference to the high rank of that station, I 

Gg 



22S 

must be judged as Princess of Wales, banished 
from the Prince, unprotected by the support and 
the countenance, which belong to that station ; 
and if I am judged of in my private character, as a 
married woman, I must be judged of as a wife 
banished from her husband, and living in a widowed 
seclusion from him, and retirement from the world. 
This last consideration leads me to recur to an ex- 
pression in Mr. Lisle's examination, which de- 
scribes my conduct, in the frequency and the man- 
ner of my receiving the visits of Captain Manby, 
though always in the presence of my ladies, as un- 
becoming a married woman. Upon the extreme 
injustice of setting up the opinion of one woman, 
as it were, in judgment upon the conduct of ano- 
ther ; as well as of estimating the conduct of a per- 
son in my unfortunate situation, by reference to 
that, which might in general be expected from a 
married woman, living happily with her husband, 
I have before generally remarked : But beyond 
these general remarks in forming any estimate of 
my conduct, your Majesty will never forget the very 
peculiar circumstances and misfortunes of my situ- 
ation. Your Majesty will remember that I had 
not been much above a year in this country, when I 
received the following letter from His Royal High* 
ness the Prince of Wales, 



22f 



Madam, 



" Windsor Castle, 
April 30, 1796, 



" As Lord Cholmondely informs me that you 
" wish I would define, in writing,* the terms 
*' upon which we are to live, I shall endea- 
" vour to explain myself upon that head, with 
" as much clearness, and with as much propriety, 
eB as the nature of the subject will admit. Our in- 
Cf elinations are not in our power, nor should either 
" of us be held answerable to the other, because 
" nature has not made us suitable to each other. 
x< Tranquil and comfortable society is, however, in 
" our power; let our intercourse, therefore, be 
" restricted to that, and I will distinctly subscribe 
iC to the condition-}- which you required, through 
" Lady Cholmondeley, that even in the event of 
t* any accident happening to my daughter, which 
" I trust Providence in its mercy will avert, I 
H shall not infringe the terms of the restriction by 

• The substance of this letter had been previously conveyed in a mes- 
sage through Lord Cholmondeley to her Royal Highness. But it was 
thought by her Reyal Highness, to be infinitely too important to rest 
merely upon a verbal communication, and therefore she desired that his 
Royal Highness's pleasure upon it should be communicated to her in 
writing, 

f Upon the receipt of the message alluded to, in the foregoing note, 
Her Royal Highness, though she had nothing to do but to submit to the 
arrangement which his Royal Highness might determine upon, desired 
it might be understood, that she should insist that any such arrange^ 
ment if once made, should be considered as final. And that his Royal 
Highness should not retain the right, from time to time, at his pleatujre, 
or under any circumstances, to alter it» 



228 

u proposing at any period, a connection of a mofe 
" particular nature. I shall now finally close this 
" disagreeable correspondence, trusting that, as 
" we have completely explained ourselves to each 
" other, the rest of our lives will be passed in un- 
" interrupted tranquillity. 

€c I am, Madam, 

ci With great truths 
<<> Very sincerely yours, 

(Signed) « GEORGE P." 



And that to this letter I sent the following answel* : 

" L'aveu de votre conversation avec Lord 
" Cholmondely, ne m'e'tonne, ni ne m'offense. 
" C'etoit me confirmer, ce que vous m'avez ta- 
" citement insinue depuis une annee. Mais il y 
" auroit apres cela, un manque de delicatesse ou, 
(C pour mieux dire, une bassesse indigne de me 
ee plaindre des conditions, que vous vous imposez a 
ci vous-meme. 

" Je ne vous aurois point fait de r^ponse, si 
iC votre lettre n'etoit concue de maniere a faire 
" douter, si cet arrangement vient de vous, ou de 
iC moi ; et vous savez que vous en avez seul 
iC l'honneur. La lettre que vous m'announcez 
" comme la derniere, m'oblige de communiquer 
ic au Roi, comme a mon Souverain, et a mon 
;i Pere, votre aveu et ma reponse. Vous trouve- 



229 



if rez cHncluse la copie de celle que j'ecris au 
" Roi. Je vous en previens pour ne pas matti- 
'1 rer de votre part la moindre reproche de dupli- 
" cite\ Cornme je n'ai dans ce moment, d'autre 
" protecteur que Sa Majeste, je m'en rapporte 
" tmiquement a lui. Et si ma conduite merite 
" son approbation, je serai, du moms en partie, 
" consolee. 

** Du reste, je conserve toute la reconnoissanee 
" possible de ce que je me trouve par votre 
66 moyen, comme Princesse de Galles, dans une 
" situation a pouvoir me livrer sans contrainte, a 
" une vertu chere a mon cceur, je veux dire la 
u bienfaisance. Ce sera pour moi un devoir d'agir 
" de plus par un autre motif, savoir celui de don- 
u ner Texemple de la patience, et de la resignation 
u dans toutes sortes d'epreuves. Rendez-moi la 
" justice deme croire, queje ne cesserai jamais de 
" faire des voeux pour votre bonheur, et d'etre 
" votre bien devouee."* 

(Signed) « CAROLINE." 

" Ce6deMai, 179(7." 



* TRANSLATION. 

The avowal of your conversation with Lord Cholmondely, neither sur- 
prises, nor offends me. It merely confirmed what you have tacitly insinu- 
ated for this twelve-month. But after this, it would be a want of delicacy, 
or rather an unworthy meanness in me, were I to complain of those cmi- 
ditions which you impose upon yourself. 

I should have returned no answer to your letter, if it had not been con- 
ceived in terms to make it doubtful, whether this arrangement proceeds 



230 

The date of his Royal Highness s letter is the 
oOth of April, 179^- The date of our marriage, 
your Majesty will recollect, is the 8th day of April, 
m the year 1?9 5 > an d that of the birth of our only 
child the 7th of January, I/96. 

On the letter of his Royal Highness I offer no 
comment, I only entreat your Majesty not to un- 
derstand me to introduce it, as affording any sup- 
posed justification or excuse, for the least departure 
from the strictest line of virtue, or the slightest 
deviation from the most refined delicacy. The 
crime, which has been insinuated against me, would 
be equally criminal and detestable ; the indelicacy 
imputed to ine would be equally odious and abomi- 
nable, whatever renunciation of conjugal authority 
and affection, the above letter of his Royal High- 
ness might in any construction of it be supposed 

from y.Tu or from me, and yon are aware that the credit of it belongs to 



,'ou alone. 



The letter which you announce to me as the last, obliges me to commu- 
nicate to the King, as to my Sovereign and my Father, both your avowal 
and my answer. You will find enclosed the copy of my letter to the King 
I apprize you uf it; that I may not incur the slightest reproach of dupli- 
city from you. As I have at this moment no protector but his Majesty, I 
lefer myself solely to him upon this subject, and if my conduct meets his 
approbation, I shall be in some degree at least consoled. I retain every 
sentiment of gratitude for the situation in which I find myself, as Princes? 
of Wales, enabled by your means, to indulge in the free exercise of a vir- 
tue dear to my heart, I mean charity. 

It will be my duty likewise to act upon another motive, that of giving 
an example of patience and resignation under every trial. 

Do me the justice to believe that I shall never cease to pray for your 
happiness, and to be 

Your much devoted 

CAROLINE, 
6th of May, 179G. 



231 

to have conveyed. Such crimes, and faults, derive 
not their guilt from the consideration of the conju- 
gal virtues of the individual, who may be the most 
injured by them, however much such virtues may- 
aggravate their enormity. No such letter, there- 
fore, in any construction of it, no renunciation of 
conjugal affection or duties,* could ever palliate 
them. But whether conduct free from all crime, 
free from all indelicacy, (which I maintain to be 
the character of the conduct to which Mrs. Lisle's 
observations apply,) yet possibly not so measured, 
as a cautious wife, careful to avoid the slightest ap- 
pearance, of not preferring her husband to all the 
world, might be studious to observe. Whether 
conduct of such description, and possibly, in such 
sense, not becoming a married woman, could be 
justly deemed, in my situation, an offence in me ; 
I must leave to your Majesty to determine. 

In making that determination, however, it will 
not escape your Majesty to consider, that the con- 
duct which does or does not become a married wo- 
man materially depends upon what is, it is not 
known by her to be agreeable to her husband. His 
pleasure and happiness ought unquestionably to be 
her law ; and his approbation the most favourite 
object of her pursuit. Different characters of men 
require different modes of conduct in their wives, 
but when a wife can no longer be capable of per- 
ceiving from time to time, what is agreeable or of- 
fensive to her husband, when her conduct can no 
longer contribute to his happiness, no longer hope 



232 

to be rewarded by bis approbation, siirely to ex- 
amine that, conduct by the standard of what ought, 
in general, to be the conduct of a married woman, 
is altogether unreasonable and unjust. 

What then is my case ? Your Majesty will do 
me the justice to remark; that, in the above letter 
of the Prince of Wales, there is not the most dis- 
tant surmise, that crime, that vice, that indelicacy 
of any description, gave occasion to his determina- 
tion ; and all the tales of infamy and discredit,- 
which the inventive malice of my enemies has 
brought forward on these charges, have their date, 
years, and years, after the period to which I am 
now alluding. What then, let me repeat the ques- 
tion, is my case ? After the receipt of the above 
letter, and in about two years from my arrival in 
this country, I had the misfortune entirely to lose 
the support, the countenance, the protection of 
my husband — I was banished, as it were, into a sort 
of humble retirement, at a distance from him, and 
almost estranged from the whole of the Royal Fa*- 
mily. I had no means of having recourse, either 
for society or advice, to those, from whom my in- 
experience could have best received the advantages 
of the one, and with whom I could, most be- 
comingly, have enjoyed the comforts of the other; 
and if in this retired, unassisted, unprotected state, 
without the check of a husband's authority, with- 
out the benefit of his advice, without the comfort 
and support of the society of his family, a stranger 
to the habits and fashions of this country, I should, 



233 

in any instance, under the influence of foreign ha- 
bits, and foreign education, have observed a con- 
duct, in any degree deviating from the reserve and 
severity of British manners, and partaking of a con- 
descension and familiarity which that reserve and 
severity would, perhaps, deem beneath the dignity 
of my exalted rank, I feel confident, (since such 
deviation will be seen to have been ever consistent 
with perfect innocence), that not only your Ma- 
jesty's candour and indulgence, but the candour and 
indulgence, which, notwithstanding the reserve and 
severity of British manners, always belong to the 
British Public, will never visit it with severity or 
censure. 

It remains for me now to make some remarks 
upon the further contents of the paper, which was 
transmitted to me by the Lord Chancellor, on the 
28th ult. And I cannot, in passing, omit to remark, 
that that paper has neither title, date, signature, nor 
attestation ; and unless the Lord Chancellor had 
accompanied it with a note, stating, that it was co- 
pied in his own hand from the original, which his 
Lordship had received from your Majesty, I should 
have been at a loss to have perceived any single 
mark of authenticity belonging to it ; and as it is, I 
am wholly unable to discover what is the true cha- 
racter which does belong to it. It contains, indeed, 
the advice which your Majesty's servants have of 
fered to your Majesty, and the Message which, ac- 
cording to that advice, your Majesty directed to be 
delivered to me. 

Hh 



234 

_ Considering it, therefore, wholly as their act, your 
Majesty will excuse and pardon me, if, deeply in- 
jured as I feel myself to have been by them, lex- 
press myself with freedom upon their conduct. I 
may speak, perhaps, with warmth, because I am 
provoked by a sense of gross injustice ; I shall 
speak certainly with firmness and with courage, 
because I am emboldened by a sense of conscious 
innocence. 

Your Majesty's confidential servants say, " they 
agree in the opinions of the four Lords," and they 
say this, " after the fullest consideration of my ob- 
servations, and of the affidavits which were annexed 
to them." Some of these opinions, your Majesty 
will recollect, are, that " William Cole, Fanny 
" Lloyd, Robert Bidgood, and Mrs. Lisle, are wit- 
66 nesses who cannot," in the judgment of the four 
Lords, " be suspected of any unfavourable bias ;" 
and " whose veracity, in this respect, they had seen 
" no ground to question ;" and cs that the circum- 
" stances to which they speak, particularly as re- 
" lating to Captain Manby, must be credited until 
" they are decisively contradicted." Am I then 
to understand your Majesty's confidential servants 
to mean, that they agree with the four Noble 
Lords in these opinions ? Am I to understand, that 
after hewing read, with the fullest consideration, 
the observations which I have offered to your Ma- 
jesty ; after having seen William Cole there proved 
to have submitted himself, five times at least, to 
private, unauthorized, voluntary examination by 
Sir John Douglas's Solicitor, for the express pur- 



235 

pose of confirming the statement of Lady Douglas^ 
(of that Lady Douglas, whose statement and depo- 
sition they are convinced to be so malicious and 
false, that they propose to institute such prosecu- 
tion against her, as your Majesty's Law Officers 
may advise, upon a reference, now at length, after 
six months from the detection of that malice and 
falsehood, intended to be made)— after having 
seen this William Cole, submitting to such repeated 
voluntary examinations for such a purpose, and 
although he was all that time a servant on my esta- 
blishment, and eating my bread, yet never once 
communicating to me, that such examinations were 
going on — am I to understand, that your Majesty's 
confidential servants agree with the four Lords in 
thinking, that he cannot, under such circumstances, 
be suspected of unfavourable bias ? That after 
having had pointed out to them the direct, flat 
contradiction between the same William Cole and 
Fanny Lloyd, they nevertheless agree to think 
them both (though in direct contradiction to each 
other, yet both) witnesses, whose "veracity they see 
7io ground to question ? After having seen Fanny 
Lloyd directly and positively contradicted, in an 
assertion, most injurious to my honour, by Mr. 
Mills and Mr. Edmeades, do they agree in opinion 
with the four Noble Lords, that they see no 
ground to question her veracity ?— After having 
read the observations on Mr. Bidgood's evidence ; 
after having seen, that he had the hardihood to 
swear, that he believed Captain Manby slept in 
my house, at Southend, and to insinuate that he 



236 

slept in my bed-room ; after having seen that he 
founded himself on this most false fact, and most 
foul and wicked insinuation, upon the circumstance 
of observing a bason and some towels where he 
thought they ought not be placed ; after having 
seen that this fact, and this insinuation, were dis- 
proved before the four Noble Lords themselves, 
by two maid-servants, who, at that time, lived 
with me at Southend, and whose duties about my 
person, and my apartments, must have made them 
acquainted with this fact, as asserted, or as insi- 
nuated, if it had happened ; after having observed 
too, in confirmation of their testimony, that one of 
them mentioned the name of another female servant 
(who was not examined), who had, from her situa- 
tion, equal means of knowledge with themselves — 
I ask whether, after all this decisive weight of con- 
tradiction to Robert Bidgood's testimony, I am to 
understand your Majesty's confidential servants to 
agree with the four Noble Lords in thinking, that 
Mr. Bidgood is a witness, who cannot be suspected 
of unfavourable bias, and that there is no ground 
to guest ion his veracity? If, Sire, I were to go 
through all the remarks of this description, which 
occur to me to make, I should be obliged to re- 
peat nearly all my former observations, and to 
make this letter as long as my original answer ; but 
to that answer I confidently appeal, and I will ven- 
ture to challenge your Majesty's confidential ser- 
vants to find a single impartial, and honourable 
man, unconnected in feeling and interest with the 
parties, and unconnected in Council, with those 



237 

who have already pledged themselves to an opinion 
upon this subject, who will lay his hand upon his 
heart, and say that these three witnesses, on whom 
that Report so mainly relies, are not to be suspected 
of the grossest partiality, and that their veracity is 
not most fundamentally impeached. 

Was it then noble, was it generous, was it manly, 
was it just, in your Majesty's confidential servants, 
instead of fairly admitting the injustice, which had 
been, inadvertently, and unintentionally, no doubt, 
done to me, by the four Noble Lords in their Re- 
port, upon the evidence of these witnesses, to state 
to your Majesty, that they agree with these Noble 
Lords in their opinion, though they cannot, it 
seems, go the length of agreeing any longer to 
withhold the advice, which restores me to your 
Majesty's presence ? And with respect to the par- 
ticulars to my prejudice, remarked upon in the 
Report as those " which justly deserve the most 
" serious consideration, and which must be credited 
" till decisively contradicted," instead of fairly 
avowing, either that there was originally no pre- 
tence for such a remark, or that, if there had been 
original \y, yet that my answer had given that de- 
cisive contradiction which was sufficient to discredit 
them ; instead, I say, of acting this just, honest, 
and, open, part, to take no notice whatsoever of 
those contradictions, and content themselves with 
saying, that " none of the facts or allegations 
^ stated in preliminary examinations, carried on in 
" the absence of the parties interested, could be con- 
" sidered as legally or conclusively established ?" 



238 

They agree in the opinion that the facts or alle- 
gations, though stated in preliminary examination, 
carried on in the absence of the parties interested, 
must be credited till decisively contradicted, and 
deserve the most serious consideration. They read, 
with the fullest consideration, the contradiction 
which I have tendered to them ; they must have 
known, that no other sort of contradiction could, 
by possibility, from the nature of things, have been 
offered upon such subjects ; they do not question 
the truth, they do not point out the insufficiency of 
the contradiction, but in loose, general, indefinite, 
terms, referring to my answer, consisting, as it 
does, of above two hundred written pages, and 
coupling it with those examinations (which they 
admit establish nothing against an absent party) 
they advise your Majesty, that " there appear 
" many circumstances of conduct, which could not 
" be regarded by your Majesty without serious 
" concern ;" and that, as to all the other facts and 
allegations, except those relative to my pregnancy 
and delivery, they are not to be considered as 
" legally and conclusively established,''' because 
spoken to in preliminary examinations, not carried 
on in the presence of the parties concerned. They 
do not, indeed, expressly assert, that my contra- 
diction was not decisive or satisfactory ; they do 
not expressly state, that they think the facts and 
allegations want nothing towards their legal and 
conclusive establishment, but a re-examination in 
the presence of the parties interested, but they go 
far to imply such opinions. That those opinions are 



239 

utterly untenable, against the observations I have 
made upon the credit and character of those wit- 
nesses, I shall ever most confidently maintain ; but 
that those observations leave their credit wholly un- 
affected, and did not deserve the least notice from 
your Majesty's servants, it is impossible that any 
honourable man can assert, or any fair, and unpre- 
judiced, mind believe. 

I now proceed, Sire, to observe, very shortly, 
upon the advice further given to your Majesty as 
contained in the remaining part of the paper ; which 
has represented that, both in the examinations, and 
even in my answer there have appeared many cir- 
cumstances of conduct which could not be regarded 
but with serious concern, and which have suggested 
the expression of a desire and expectation, that such 
a conduct may in future, be observed by me, as may 
fully justify these marks of paternal regard and affec- 
tion, which your Majesty wishes to shew to all your 
Royal Family. 

And here, Sire, your Majesty will graciously per- 
mit me to notice the hardship of the advice, which 
has suggested to your Majesty, to convey to me 
this reproof. I complain not so much for what 
it does, as for what it does not contain ; I mean 
the absence of all particular _ mention of what 
it is, that is the object of their blame. The 
circumstances of conduct, which appear in these 
examinations, and in my answer to which they 
allude as those which may be supposed to jus- 
tify the advice, which has led to this reproof, 
since your Majesty's servants have not particularly 



240 

mentioned them, I cannot be certain that I know. 
But I will venture confidently to repeat the asser- 
tion, which I have already made, that there are no 
circumstances of conduct, spoken to by any wit- 
ness, (whose infamy and discredit are not unan- 
swerably exposed, and established,) nor any where 
apparent in my answer which have the remotest 
approach either to crime, or to indelicacy. 

For my future conduct, Sire, impressed with 
every sense of gratitude for all former kindness, I 
shall be bound, unquestionably, by sentiment as 
well as duty, to study your Majesty's pleasure. 
Any advice which your Majesty may wish to give 
to me in respect of any particulars of my conduct, 
I shall be bounds and be anxious to obey as my 
law. But I must trust that your Majesty will 
point out to me the particulars, which may happen 
to displease you, and which you may wish to have 
altered. I shall be as happy, in thus feeling myself 
safe from blame under the benefit of your Majes- 
ty's advice, as I am now in finding myself secured 
from danger, under the protection of your justice. 

Your Majesty will permit me to add one word more. 

Your Majesty has seen what detriment my cha- 
racter has, for a time, sustained, by the false and 
malicious statement of Lady Douglas, and by the 
depositions of the witnesses who were examined in 
support of her statement. Your Majesty has seen 
how many enemies I have, and how little their ma- 
lice has Been restrained by any regard to truth in 
the pursuit of my ruin. Few, as it may be hoped, 
may be the instances of such determined, and un- 



241 

provoked, malignity, yet, I cannot flatter myself, 
that the world does not produce other p rsons, who 
may be swayed by similar motives to similar wick- 
edness. Whether the statement, to be prepared by 
by the Prince of Wales, is to be confined to the old 
charges, or is intended to bring forward new cir- 
cumstances, I cannot tell ; but if any fresh attempts 
of the same nature shall be made by my accusers, 
instructed as they will have been, by their miscar- 
riage in this instance, I can hardly hope that they 
will not renew their charge, with an improved ar- 
tifice, more skilfully directed, and with a malice, 
inflamed rather than abated, by their previous disap- 
pointment. 1 therefore can only appeal to your Ma- 
jesty's justice, in which I confident!}' trust, that 
whether these charges are to be renewed against me 
either on the old or on fresh evidence ; or whether 
new accusations, as well as new witnesses, are to be 
brought forward, your Majesty, after the experi- 
ence of these proceedings, will not suffer your 
Royal mind to be prejudiced by ex parte, secret 
examinations, nor my character to be whispered 
away by insinuations, or suggestions, which 1 have 
no opportunity of meeting. If any charge, which 
the law will recognize, should be brought against 
me in an open and a legal manner, I should have 
no right to complain, nor any apprehension to meet 
it. But till I may have a full opportunity of so 
meeting it, 1 trust your Majesty will not suffer it 
to excite even a suspicion to my prejudice. I must 
claim the benefit of the presumption of innocence 
till I am proved to be guilty, for, without that pre- 

i i 



242 

sumption, against the effects of secret insinuation 
and ex parte examinations, the purest innocence can 
make no defence, and can have no security. 

Surrounded, as it is now proved, that I have 
been, for years, by domestic spies, your Majesty 
must, I trust, feel convinced, that if I had been 
guilty, there could not have been wanting evidence 
to have proved my guilt. And, that these spies 
have been obliged to have resort to their own inven- 
tion for the support of the charge, is the strongest 
demonstration that the truth, undisguised, and cor- 
rectly represented, could furnish them with no 
handle against me. And when I consider the na- 
ture and malignity of that conspiracy, which, I 
feel confident I have completely detected and ex- 
posed, I cannot but think of that detection, with 
the liveliest gratitude, as the special blessing of 
Providence, who, by confounding the machinations 
of my enemies, has enabled me to find, in the very 
excess and extravagance of their malice, in the very 
weapons, which they fabricated and sharpened for 
my destruction, the sufficent guard to my inno- 
cence, and the effectual means of my justification 
and defence. 

I trust therefore, Sire, that I may now close this 
•long letter, in confidence that many days will not 
elapse before I shall receive from your Majesty, 
that assurance that my just requests may be so 
completely granted, as may render it possible for me 
(which nothing else can) to avoid the painful 
disclosure to the world of all the circumstances 
of that injustice, and of those unmerited suffer- 
ings^ which these Proceedings, in the manner in 



243 

which they have been conducted, have brought 
upon me. 

I remain, Sire, 
With every sentiment of gratitude, 
Your Majesty's most dutiful, 

most submissive Danghter-in-law, 
Subject and Servant, 

(Signed) C.P. 

Montague-House, February 16, I807. 

As these observations apply not only to the offi- 
cial communication through the Lord Chancellor, 
of the 28th ult. ; but also to the private letter of 
your Majesty, of the 1 2th instant, 1 have thought 
it most respectful to your Majesty and your Ma- 
jesty's servants, to send this letter in duplicate, one 
part through Colonel Taylor, and the other through 
the Lord Chancellor, to your Majesty. 

To the King: (Signed) C.P. 

Sire, 
When I last troubled your Majesty upon my un- 
fortunate business, I had raised my mind to hope, 
that I should have the happiness of hearing from 
your Majesty, and receiving your gracious com- 
mands, to pay my duty in your Royal Presence, 
before the expiration of the last week. And when 
that hope was disappointed, (eagerly clinging to 
any idea, which offered me a prospect of being 
saved from the necessity of having recourse, for the 
vindication of my character, to the publication of 
the Proceedings upon the Inquiry into my Con- 
duct), I thought it just possible, that the reason for 
my not having received your Majesty's commands 
to that effect^ might have been occasioned by the 



244 

circumstance of your Majesty's staying at Windsor 
through the whole of the week. I, therefore, 
determined to wait a few days longer, before I took 
a step., which, when once taken, could not be re- • 
called. Having, however, now assured myself, 
that your Majesty was in town yesterday — as I 
have received no command to wait upon your Ma- 
jesty, and no intimation of your pleasure — I am 
reduced to the necessity of abandoning all hope, 
that your Majesty will comply with my humble, 
my earnest, and anxious requests. 

Your Majesty, therefore, will not be surprised 
to fmd, that the publication of the Proceedings al- 
luded to, will not be withheld beyond Monday next. 

As to any consequences which may arise from 
such publication, unpleasant or hurtful to my own 
feelings and interests, I may, perhaps, be properly 
responsible ; and, in any event, have no one to 
complain of but myself, and those with whose ad- 
vice i have acted ; and whatever those conse- 
quences may be, I am fully and unalterably con- 
vinced, that they must be incalculably less than 
those, wnich I should be exposed to from my 
silence : But as to any other consequences, unplea- 
sant or hurtful to the feelings and interests of 
others, or of the public, my conscience will cer- 
tainly acquit me of them ; — I am confident that I 
have not acted impatiently, or precipitate! v. To 
avoid coming to this painful extremity, I have 
taken every step in my power, except that which 
would be abandoning my character to utter in- 
famy, and my station and life to no uncertain dan- 
ger, and, possibly, to no very distant destruction* 



245 

With every prayer, for the lengthened continu- 
ance of your Majesty's health and happiness ; for 
every possible blessing, which a Gracious God can 
bestow upon the beloved Monarch of a loyal People, 
and for the continued prosperity of your dominions, 
under your Majesty's propitious reign, I remain, 
Your Majesty's 
Most dutiful, loyal, and affectionate, 
but most unhappy, and most injured 
Daughter-in-law, Subject, and Servant, 
Montague House, Afar. 5, I807. C. P. 

To the King. 

Sire,* 

In discharge of the duty I owe to myself, and the 
great duty I owe to your Majesty and your Illustri- 
ous Family, I have herewith transmitted a state- 
ment which I confidently trust will appear to prove 
me not unworthy of the protection and favour with 
which your Majesty has pleased to honour me. 

To be restored to that favour and protection, in 
consequence of a conviction in your Majesty's mind 
of my innocence, produced by the papers, I now 
humbly lay before your Majesty, is the first wish 
of my heart. 

Grieved, Sire, deeply grieved, as I cannot but 
be, that your Majesty should be exposed to so 
much trouble, on so painful an occasion, and on 
my account, it is yet my humble trust that yoi.r 
Majesty will graciously forgive rae. if extreme anx- 
iety about my honour and your Majesty's favourable 
opinion, leads me humbly to solicit, as an act of 
Justice, that scrupulous attention on your Majesty's 

* This letter accompanied the fVineess's Answer to the Commissioners' 
Report, and should have been inserted after page 180. 



246 

part to these papers, which cannot fail, I think, to 
produce in your Majesty's mind, a full conviction of 
my innocence, and a due sense of the injuries I 
have suffered. 

One other prayer I, with all possible humility 
and anxiety, address to your Majesty, that, as I 
can hope for no happiness, nor expect to enjoy the 
benefit of that fair reputation to which I know I 
am entitled, till I an: re-admitted into your Majes- 
ty's presence, and as I am in truth without guilt, 
suffering what to me is heavy punishment, whilst 
I am denied access to your Majesty, your Majesty 
will be graciously pleased to form an early deter- 
mination whether my conduct and my sufferings 
do not authorize me to hope that the blessing of 
being restored to your Majesty's presence may be 
conferred upon, Sire, your Majesty's dutifully at- 
tached, affectionate, and afflicted daughter-in-law 
and subject, 

(Signed) CAROLINE. 

Blackheath, Oct. 2, 1806. 
To the King. 

MINUTE OF COUNCIL, April 22, 1807. 

PRESENT, 

Lord Chancellor (Eldon) The Earl of Bathurst 
Lord President (^Camden) Viscount Castlereagh 
Lord Privy Seal (West- Lord Mulgrave 

morland) Mr. Secretary Canning 

The Duke of Portland Lord Hawkesbury. 
The Earl of Chatham 

Your Majesty's confidential servants have, in obe- 
dience to your Majesty's commands^ most attentive- 



247 

\y considered the original Charges and Report, the 
Minutes of Evidence, and all the other papers sub- 
mitted lo the consideration of your Majesty, on the 
subject of those charges against her Royal Highness 
the Princess of Wales. 

In the stage in which this business is brought 
under their consideration, they do not feel them- 
selves called upon to give any opinion as to the pro- 
ceeding itself, or to the mode of investigation in 
which it has been thought proper to conduct it. 
But adverting to the advice which is stated by his 
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to have di- 
his conduct, your Majesty's confidential servants are 
anxious to impress upon your Majesty their convic- 
tion that his Royal Highness could not, under sucfi 
advice, consistently with his public duty, have done 
otherwise than lay before your Majesty the State- 
ment and Examinations which were submitted to 
him upon this subject. 

After the most deliberate consideration, however, 
of the evidence which has been brought before the 
Commissioners, and of the previous examination, as 
well as of the answer and observations which have 
been submitted to your Majesty upon them, they 
feel it necessary to declare their decided concurrence 
in the clear and unanimous opinion of the Commis- 
sioners, confirmed by that of all your Majesty's late 
confidential servants, that the two main charges al- 
leged against her Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales, of pregnancy and delivery, are completely 
disproved ; and they further submit to your Majes- 
ty, their unanimous opinion, that all other particu- 
lars of conduct brought in accusation against her 



248 

Royal Highness^ to which the character of crimi- 
nality can be ascribed, are satisfactorily contradicted, 
or rest upon evidence of such a nature, and which 
was given under such circumstances, as render it, in 
the judgment of your Majesty's confidential servants, 
undeserving of credit. 

Your Majesty's confidential servants, therefore, 
concurring in that part of the opinion of your 
late servants, as stated in their Minute of the 25th 
of January, that there is no longer any necessity 
for your Majesty being advised to decline receiving 
the Princess into your Royal presence, humbly 
submit to your Majesty, that it is essentially neces- 
sary, in justice to lier Royal Highness, and for the 
honour and interests of your Majesty s Illustrious 
Family, that her Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales, should be admitted, with as little delay as 
possible, into your Majesty's Royal Presence, and 
that she should be received in a manner due to her 
rank and station, in your Majesty s Court and Fa- 
mily. 

Your Majesty's confidential servants also beg 
leave to submit to your Majesty, that considering 
that it may be necessary that yotr Majesty's Go- 
vernment should possess the means of referring to 
the state of this transaction, it is of the utmost impor- 
tance that these documents, demonstrating theground 
on which) our Majesty has proceeded, should be pre- 
served in safe custody ; and that for that purpose 
the originals, or authentic copies of all these Papers, 
should be sealed up and deposited in the Office of 
your Majesty's Principal Secretary of State, 



APPENDIX (A). 



(No. 1.) 

GEORGE R. 

ADHERE AS Our right trusty and well-beloved Coun- 
cillor Thomas Lord Erskine, our Chancellor, has this 
day laid before us an Abstract of certain written Decla- 
rations touching the' conduct of Her Royal Highness 
the" Princess of Wales : We do hereby authorize, em- 
power, and direct, the said Thomas Lord Erskine, our 
Chancellor; our right trusty and right well-beloved Cou- 
sin and Councillor George John Earl Spencer, one of 
our principal Secretaries of State ; our right trusty and 
well-beloved Councillor William Wyndham Lord Gren- 
ville, First Commissioner of our Treasury; and our 
right trusty and well-beloved Councillor Edward Lord 
EHenborough, our Chief Justice to hold pleas before 
ourself r to inquire into the truth of the same, and to ex- 
amine upon oath such persons as they shall see fit touch- 
ing and concerning the same, and to report to us the re- 
sult of such examinations. 

Given at our Castle of Windser, on the twenty- 
ninth day of May, in the forty-sixth year of 
our reign. 

A * true Copy, 

J.Bkket. g. m 



(No. 2.) 

The Deposition of Charlotte Lady Douglas. 

J think I first became acquainted with the Princess 
of Wales in 1801. Sir John Douglas had a house at 
Blackheath. One day in November, 1801, the snow was 
lying on the ground, the Princess and a lady, who I be- 
lieve was Miss Heyman, came on foot and walked several 
times before the door. Lady Stewart was with me,|and 
said she thought the Princess wanted something, and that 
I ought to go to her. I went to her ; she said she did not 
want any thing, but she would walk in ; that I had a very- 
pretty little girl. She came in, and stayed some time. 
About a fortnight after, Sir John Douglas and I received 
an invitation to go to Montague House. After that I 
was very frequently at Montague House, and dined 
there ; the Princess dined frequently with us. About 
May or June, 1802, the Princess first talked with me 
about her own conduct. Sir Sidney Smith, who had 
been Sir John's friend for more than twenty years, came 
to England about November, 1801, and came to live in 
our house. I understood that the Princess knew Sir Sid- 
dey Smith before she was Princess of Wales. The Prin- 
cess saw Sir Sidney Smith as frequently as ourselves. We 
were usually kept at Montague House later than the rest 
of the party ; often till three or four o'clock in the morn- 
ing. I never observed any impropriety of conduct be- 
tween Sir Sidney Smith and the Princess. I made the 
Princess a visit at Montague House in March 1802, for 
about a fortnight. She desired me come there because 
Miss Garth was ill. In May or June following the Prin- 
cess came to my house alone ; she said she came to tell 
me something that had happened to her, and desired me 
to guess. I guessed several things, and at last I said I 



could not guess any thing more. She then said that she 
was pregnant, and that the child had come to life. I don't 
know whether she said on that day, or a few days before, 
that she was at breakfast at Lady Willoughby's, that the 
milk flowed up to her breast,^ and came through her 
gown ; that she threw a napkin over herself, and went 
with Lady Willoughby into her room and adjusted her- 
self, to prevent its being observed. She never told me 
who was the father of the child. She said she hoped it 
would be a boy. She said that if it was discovered, she 
would give the Prince of Wales the credit of being the 
father, for she had slept two nights at Carlton House 
within the year. I said that I should go abroad to my 
Mother. The Princess said that she should manage it 
very well ; and if things came to the worst, she would 
give the Prince the credit of it. While I was at Monta- 
gue House in March, I was with the child, and one day I 
said that I was very sick, and the Princess desired Mrs. 
Sander to get me a saline draught. She then said that she 
was very sick herself, and that she would take a saline 
draught too. I observed that she could not want one, and I 
looked at her. The Princess said, Yes I do ; what do 
you look at me for, with your wicked eyes ? you are al- 
ways finding me out. Mrs. Sander looked very much 
distressed ; she gave us a saline draught each. This was the 
first time that I had any suspicion of her being with 
child. The Princess never said who was the father. 
When she first told me she was with child, I rather sus- 
pected that Sir Sidney was the father, but only because 
the Princess was very partial to him. I never knew that 
he was with her alone. We had constant intercourse 
with the Princess, from the time when I was at Montague 
House till the end of October. After that she had first 
communicated to me that she was with child, she fre- 
quently spoke upon the subject. She was bled twice dur- 



ing the time. She recommended to me to be bled too, 
and said that it made you have a better time. Mr. Ed- 
meades bled her. She said one of the days that Mr. Ed- 
meades bled her, that she had a violent heat in her blood, 
and that Mr. Edmeades should bleed her. I told the Prin- 
cess I was very anxious how she would manage to be 
brought to bed without its being known ; that I hoped 
she bad a safe person She said yes, she should have a 
person from abroad ; that she had a great horror of hav- 
ing any man about her on such an occasion. She said, " f 
am confident in my own plans, and f wish you would not 
speak with me on that subject again." She said, " I shall 
tell every thing to Sander." I think this was on the day on 
which she told me of what had happened at Lady Wil- 
loughby's. That Sander was a very good woman, and 
might be trusted, and that she must be with her at the la- 
bour; that she would send Miss Gouch to Brunswick ; 
and Miss Millfleld was too young to be trusted, and 
must be sent out of the way. I was brought to bed on 
the 23rd of July, 1802; the Princess insisted on being 
present ; 1 determined that she should not, but I meant 
to avoid it without offending her. On the day on which 
I was brought to bed, she came to my house, and insist- 
ed on coming in ; Dr. Mackie, who attended me, locked 
the door, and said she should not come in ; but there 
was another door on the opposite side of the room, which 
was not locked, and she came in atthat door, and was pre- 
sent during the time of the labour, and took the child as 
soon as it was born, and said that she was very glad that 
she had seen the whole of it. The Princess's pregnancy 
appeared to me to be very visible ; she wore a cushion 
behind, and she made Mjs. Sander make one for me. 
During my lying-in the Princess came one day with Mrs. 
Fitzgerald ; she sent Mrs. Eitzgerald away, and took a 
chair and sat by my bedside. She said, " You will hear of 



my taking children in baskets, but you wont take any no- 
tice of it ; I shall have them brought by a poor woman 
in a basket; I shall do it as a cover to have my own 
brought to me in that way," or, " that is the way in which 
I must have my own brought when I have it." Very soon 
after this, two children, who were twins, were brought 
by a poor woman in a basket. The Princess took them 
and had them carried up into her room, and the Princess 
washed them herself. The Princess told me this herself. 
The father, a few days afterwards, came and insisted up- 
on having the children, and they were given to him. The 
Princess afterwards said to me, You see I took the chil- 
dren, and it answered very well ; the father had got 
them back, and she could not blame him ; that she should 
take other children, and should have quite a nursery. I 
saw the Princess on a Sunday, either the 30th or 3 1 st of 
October, 1802, walking before her door. She was dress- 
ed so as to conceal her pregnancy ; she had a long cloak, 
and a very great muff. She had just returned from 
Greenwich Church ; she looked very ill, and I thought 
must be very near her time. About a week, or nine or 
ten days after this, 1 received a note from the Princess, 
to desire that I would not come to Montague House, for 
they were apprehensive that the children she had taken 
had had the measles in their clothes, and that she was 
afraid my child might take it. When the Princess came 
to see me during my lying in, she told me that when she 
should be brought to bed, she wished I would not come 
to her for some time, for she might be confused in seeing 
me. About the end of December, I went to Gloucester- 
shire, and stayed thereabout a month. When I return- 
ed, which was in January, I went to Montague House, 
and was let in. The Princess was packing up something 
in a black box. Upon the sofa a child was lying, cover- 
ed with a piece of red cloth. The Princess got up and 



took me by the hand ; she then led me to the sofa, and 
said, " There is the child, I had him only two days after I 
saw you." The words were, either, "I had him," or, "I was 
brought to bed." The words were such as clearly import- 
ed that it was her own child. She said she got very well 
through it. She shewed me a mark on the child's hand ; 
it is a pink mark. The Princess said, " she has a mark 
like your little girl." I saw the child afterwards frequent- 
ly with the Princess, quite till Christmas, 1 803, when I 
left Blackheath. I saw the mark upon the child's hand, 
and I am sure that it was the same child. I never saw 
any other child there. Princess Charlotte used to see the 
child, and play with him. The child used to call the 
Princess of Wales Mama. I saw the child looking at the 
window of the Princess's house about a month ago, be- 
fore the Princess went into Devonshire, and I am sure 
that it was the same child. Not long after 1 had first seen 
the child, the Princess said that she had the child at first 
to sleep with her for a few nights, but it made her ner- 
vous, and now they had got a regular nurse for her. 3he 
said, " We gave it a little milk at first, but it was too much 
for [me, and now we breed it by hand, and it does very 
well." I can swear positively that the child I saw at the 
window is the same child as the Princess told me she had 
two days after she parted with me. The child was called 
William. I never heard that it had any other name. 
When the child was in long clothes, we breakfasted one 
day with the Princess, and she said to Sir John Douglas, 
" This is the Deptford Boy." Independently of the Prin- 
cess's confessions to me, I can swear that she was preg- 
nant in 1802. In October, 1804, when we returned from 
Devonshire, I left my card at Montague House, and on 
the 4th of October I received a letter from Mrs.Vernon, 
desiring me not to come any more to Montague House. 
I had never at this time mentioned the Princess's being 



with child, or being delivered of a child, to any person, 
not even to Sir John Douglas. After receiving Mrs. 
Vernon's letter, I wrote to the Princess on the subject. 
The letter was sent back unopened. I then wrote to Mrs. 
Fitzgerald, saying, that I thought myself extremely ill- 
used. In two or three days after this I received an anony- 
mous letter, which I produce, and have marked with the 
letter A, # and signed with my name both on the letter and 
the envelope. The Princess of Wales has told me that 
she got a bedfellow whenever she could ; that nothing 
was more wholesome. She said that nothing was more 
convenient than her room; " it stands at the head of the 
staircase which leads into the Park, and I have bolts in 
the inside, and have a bedfellow whenever I like. I 
wonder you can be satisfied only with Sir John." She has* 
said this more than once. She has told me that Sir Sid- 
ney Smith had lain with her ; that she believed all men 
liked a bedfellow, but Sir Sidney better than any body 
else ; that the Prince was the most complaisant man in 
the world ; that she did what she liked, went where she 
liked, and had what bedfellows she liked, and the Prince 
paid for all. 

CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS. 

June 1, 1806. 

Sworn before us,** June*l, 1806, at Lord|Gren- 
ville's in Downing-street, Westminster. 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A true Copy, GRENVILLE, 

J. Becket. ELLENBOROUGH. 

• No copy of this letter has been sent to Her Royal Highness the 
Princess ef Wales. 



(No. 3.) 

The Deposition of Sir John Douglas, Knt 

I had a house at Blackheath in 1801. Sir Sidney 
used to come to my house. I had a bed for him. The 
Printeess of Wales formed an acquaintance with Lady 
Douglas, and came frequently to our house. I thought 
she came more for Sir Sidney Smith than for us. After 
she had been some time acquainted with us, she appeared 
te me to be with child. One day she leaned on the so** 
fa*> and put her hand upon her stomach, and said, " Sir 
John, I shall never be Queen of England.*' I said, 
tx Not if you don't deserve it" She seemed angry at 
finst. In 1804, on the 27th of October, i received 
Ufco- letters by the two-penny post, one addressed to me, 
which I now produce, and have marked with the letter 
(B)* 9 both on the envelope and the inclosure, and the 
other letter addressed to Lady Douglas, and \Vhich I 
now produce, and have marked with the letter (C)* 
both on the envelope and the inclosure. 

(Signed) JOHN DOUGLAS. 

June 1st. 

Sworn before us at Lord Grenville's house in Down- 
ing- street, Westminster, June the first, 1806. 

EKSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A true Copy, G REN VI LLE, 

J. Bucket. ELLENBOROUGH. 



* No copy of these letters, or either of them, has been sent te 
H«f iR«y a* .Bigljaes^Jthe Princess of Wales. 



(No. 4.) 

The Deposition of Robert Bidgood. 

I have lived with the Prince twenty-three years in 
next September.- I went to the Princess in March, 
1798, and have lived with her Royal Highness ever 
since. About the year 1802, early in that year, I 
first observed Sir Sidney Smith come to Montague 
House. He used to stay very late at night. I have 
seen him early in the morning there, about ten or ele- 
ven o'clock. He was at Sir John Douglas's, and was 
in the habit, as well as Sir John and Lady Douglas, of 
dining or having luncheon, or supping there almost 
every day. I saw Sir Sidney Smith one day in 1802, 
in the blue room, about eleven o'clock in the morning, 
which is full two hours before we expected ever to 
see company. I asked the servants why they did not 
let me know that he was there. The footmen inform- 
ed me that they had let no person in. There was a 
private door to the Park by which he might have 
come in if he had a key to it, and have got into the 
blue room without any of the servants perceiving him. 
I never observed any appearance of the Princess, 
which could lead me to suppose she was with child. 
I first observed Captain Manby come to Montague 
House, either the end of 1803, or beginning of 1804. 
I was waiting one day in the anti-room, Captain Man- 
by had his hat in his hand, and appeared to be going 
away. He was a long time with the Princess, and as 
1 stood qn the steps waiting, I looked into the room in 
which they were, and in the reflection in the looking- 
glass I saw them salute each other. I mean that they 
kissed each other's lips. Captain Manby then went 
away. I then observed the Princess have her hand- 



% 



10 

kerchief in her hands, and wipe her eyes as if she was 
crying, and went into the drawing-room. The Prin- 
cess went to Southend in May, 1804. e went with 
her» We were there I believe about six weeks before 
the Africainecame in. Sicard was very often watching 
with a glass to see when the ship would arrive. One 
day he said he saw the Africaine, and soon after the 
Captain put off in a boat from the ship. Sicard went 
down the shrubbery to meet him. When the Captain 
came on shore, Sicard conducted him to the Princess's 
House, and he dined there with the Princess and her 
Ladies. After this he came very frequently to see the 
Princess. The Princess had two houses on the Cliff, 
Nos. 8 and 9« She afterwards took the drawing-room 
of No. 7, which communicated by the balcony with 
No. 8. The three houses being adjoining, the Princess 
used to dine in No. 8, and after dinner to remove with 
the company into No. 7, and I have several times seen 
the Princess, after having gone into No. 7, with Cap- 
tain Man by and the rest of the company, retire alone 
with Captain Manby from No. 7, through No. 8, into 
No. Q, which was the house in which the Princess slept. 
I suspected that Captain Manby slept frequently in 
the house. It was a subject of conversation in the 
house. Hints were given by the servants, and I be- 
lieve that others suspected it as well as myself. The 
Princess took a child, which I understand was brought 
into the house by Stikeraan. I waited only one week 
in three, and I was not there at the time the child was 
brought, but I saw it there early in 1803. The child 
who is now with the Princess is the same as I saw there 
early in 1803. thas a mark in its left hand. Austin 
is the name of the man who was said to be the father. 
Austin's wife is, I believe, still alive. She has had 
another child, and has brought it sometimes to Mon- 



11 

tague House. It is very like the child who lives with 
the Princess. Mrs. Gosden was employed as a nurse 
to the child, and she used to bring the child to the 
Princess as soon as the Princess woke, and the child 
used to stay with her Royal Highness the whole morn- 
ing. The Princess appeared to be extremely fond of 
the child, and still appears so. 

R. BIDGOOD. 

Sworn at Lord Grenville's House in Downing- 
street, the sixth day of June, 1806. 

A true Copy, SPENCER, 

J. Becket. GRENVILLE. 



(No. 5.) 

The Deposition of William Cole. 

1 have lived with the Princess of Wales ever since 
her marriage, Sir Sidney Smith first visited at Monta- 
gue House about 1802. I have observed the Princess 
too familiar with Sir Sidney Smith. One day, I think 
about February in that year, the Princess ordered some 
sandwiches, I carried them in the Blue Room to her. 
Sir Sidney Smith was there. I was surprised to see 
him there — he must have come in from the Park. If 
he had been let in from Blackheath, he must have 
passed through the room in which I was waiting" 
When I had left the sandwiches, I returned after some 
time into the room, and Sir Sidney Smith was sitting 
very close to the Princess on the sofa. I looked at 
him, and at her Royal Highness. She caught my eye, 
and saw that I noticed the manner in which they were 
sitting together. They appeared both a little confused 
when I came into the room. A short time before this, 
one night about twelve o'clock, I saw a man go into 



12 

the house from the Park, wrapt up in a great coat. I 
did not give any alarm, for the impression on my mind 
was, that it was not a thief. Soon after I had seen the 
Princess and Sir Sidney Smith sitting together on the 
sofa, the Duke of Kent sent for me, and told me 
that the Princess would be very glad if I would do the 
duty in town, because she had business to do in town 
which she would rather trust to me than any body else # 
The Duke said that the Princess had thought it would 
be more agreeable to me to be told this by him than 
through Sicard. After this I never attended at Mon- 
tague House, but occasionally when the Princess sent 
for me. About July, 1802, 1 observed that the Prin- 
cess had grown very large ; and in the latter end of the 
same year she appeared to be grown thin, and I observ- 
ed it to Miss Sander, who said that the Princess was 
much thinner than she had been. I had not any idea of 
the Princess being with child. Mr. Lawrence, the 
painter, used to go to Montague House about the lat- 
ter end of 1801, when he was painting the Princess, 
and he has slept in the house two or three nights to- 
gether. I have often seen him alone with the Princess at 
eleven and twelve o'clock at night. He has been there 
as late as one and two o'clock in the morning. One 
night I saw him with the Princess in the Blue Room, 
after the ladies had retired. Some time afterwards, 
when I supposed that he had gone to his room, T went 
to see that all was safe, and I found the Blue Room 
door locked, and heard a whispering in it, and I went 

away. 

Wm. COLE. 

Sworn at Lord Grenville's House in Downing- 
sweet, the sixth day of June, 1806, before us, 

A true Copy, SPENCER, 

J. Becket. GRENVILL& 



13 

(No. 6.) 

The Deposition of Finances Lloyd, 
I have lived twelve years with the Princess of 
Wales next October. I am in the Coffee-room. My 
situation in the Coffee-room does not give me oppor- 
tunities of seeing the Princess. I don't see her some- 
times for months. Mr. Mills attended me for a cold. 
He asked me if the Prince came to Blackheath, back- 
wards and forwards, or something to that effect, for 
the Princess was with child, or looked if she was with 
child. This must have been three or four years ago. 
It may have been rive years ago. I think it must have 
been some time before the child was brought to the 
Princess. I remember the child being brought. It 
was brought into my room. I had orders sent to me 
to give the mother arrow root, with directions how to 
make it, to wean the child, and I gave it to the mo- 
ther, and she took the child away. Afterwards the 
mother brought the child back again. Whether it 
was a week, ten days, or a fortnight, I cannot say, 
but it might be about that time. The second time the 
mother brought the child, she brought it into my room* 
I asked her, how a mother could part with her child. 
I am not sure which time I asked this. The mother 
cried, and said she could not afford to keep it. The 
child was said to be about four months old when it 
was brought. I did not particularly observe it myself. 

FRANCES LLOYD. 
I was at Ramsffate with the Princess in 1803. One 
morning when we were in the house at East Cliff, 
some body, I don't recollect who, knocked at my door, 
and desired me to get up to prepare breakfast for the 
Princess. This was about six o'clock. I was asleep. 
During the whole time I was in the Princess's service, 
I had never been called up before to make breakfast 



14 

for the Princess. I slept in the housekeeper's room 
on the ground floor. I opened the shutters of the 
window for light. I knew at that time that Captain 
Manby's ship was in the Downs. When I opened the 
shutters, I saw the Princess walking down the garden 
with a gentleman. She was walking down the gravel 
walk towards the sea. No orders had been given me 
overnight to prepare breakfast early. The gentleman 
the Princess was walking with, was a tall man. I was 
surprised to see the Princess walking with a gentle- 
man, at that time in the morning. I am sure it was 
the Princess. While we were at Blackheath, a wo- 
man at Charlton, of the name ofTownley, told me that 
she had some linen to wash from the Princess's house. 
That the linen was marked with the appearance of 
*####*## # ^ rp ne woman nas s i nC e left 

Charlton, but she has friends there. 1 think it must 
have been before the child was brought to the Prin- 
cess, that the woman told us this. I know all the wo- 
men in the Princess's house. 1 don't think that any 
of them were in a state of pregnancy, and if any had, 
I think I must have known it. I never told Cole that 
Mary Wilson, when she supposed the Princess to be 
in the library, had gone into the Princess's bedroom, 
and had found a man there at breakfast with the Prin- 
cess; or that there was a great to-do about it, and that 
Mary Wilson was sworn to secresy, and threatened 
to be turned away if she divulged what she had seen. 

FRANCES LLOYD. 

Sworn at Lord Grenville's House in Downing-street? 
the seventh day of June, 1806, before us, 

ERSKINE, 
# »* SPENCER, 

A true Copy, GRENV1LLE, 

J. Becket. ELLENBOROUGH. 



15 



(No. 7.) 



The Deposition of Mary Ann Wilson. 
I believe it will be ten years next quarter, that I 
have lived with the Princess of Wales, as housemaid, 
I wait on the ladies who attend the Princess. I re- 
member when the child who is now with the Princess, 
was brought there. Before it came I heard say it was 
to come. The mother brought the child. It appear- 
ed to be about four months old when it was brought. 
I remember twins being brought to the Princess, be- 
fore this child was brought. I never noticed the Prin- 
cess's shape to be different in that year from what it 
was before. I never had a thought that the Princess 
was with child. I have heard it reported. It is a 
good while ago. I never myself suspected her being 
with child. I think she could not have been with 
child, and have gone on to her time without my 
knowing it. I was at Southend with the Princes. — 
Captain Manby used to visit the Princess there. I 
make the Princess's bed, and have been in the habit 
©f making it ever since I lived with Her Royal High- 
ness. Another maid, whose name is Ann Bye, assist- 
ed with me in making the bed. From what I observ- 
ed, I never had any reason to believe that two persons 
had slept in the bed. I never saw any particular ap- 
pearance in it. The linen was washed by Stikeman's 

wife, 

MARY WILSON. 

Sworn at Lord Grenville's House in Downing-strect, 

the seventh of June, 1806, before us, 

ERSKINE, 

SPENCER, 

A true Copy, GRENV1LLE, 

J. Becket. ELLENBOROUGH. 



16 

(No. 8.) 

The Deposition of Samuel Roberts. 

I am a footman to the Princess of Wales. I re- 
member the child being taken by the Princess. I 
never observed any particular appearance of the Prin- 
cess in that year — nothing that red me to believe that 
she was with child. Sir Sidney Smith used to visit 
the Princess at Blackheath. I never saw him alone 
with the Princess. He never stayed after eleven 
o'clock. I recollect Mr. Cole once asking me, I 
I think three years ago, whether there were any fa- 
vourites in the family. I remember saying, that 
Captain Manby and Sir Sidney Smith were frequent- 
ly at Blackheath, and dined there oftener than other 
persons. I never knew Sir Sidney Smith stay later 
than the ladies. I cannot say exactly at what hour he 
went, but I never remember him staying alone with 
the Princess. 

SAMUEL ROBERTS. 

Sworn at Lord Grenville's House in Downing street, 
the seventh day of June, 1806, before us, 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A true Copy, GRENVILLE, 

J. Becket. ELLENBOROUGH. 



17 



(No. 9.) 

The Deposition of Thomas Stikeman. 

I have been Page to the Princess of Wales ever 
since she has been in England. When I first saw the 
child who is with the Princess, it is about four years 
ago. Her Royal Highness had a strong desire to have 
an infant, which I and all the house knew. I heard 
there was a woman who had twins, orie of which the 
Princess was desirous to have, but the parents would 
not part with it. A woman came to the door with a 
petition to get her husband replaced in the Dock 
Yard, who had been removed. She had a child with 
her. I took the child, I believe, and shewed it to 
Mrs. Sander. I then returned the child to the wo- 
man, and made inquiries after the father, and after- 
wards desired the woman to bring the child again to 
the house, which she did. The child was taken to 
the Princess. After the Princess had seen it, she de- 
sired the woman to take it again and bring it back in 
a few days, and Mrs. Sander was desired to provide 
linen for it. Within a few day3 the child was brought 
again by the mother, and was left, and has been with 
the Princess ever since. I don't recollect the child had 
any mark ; but upon reflection I do recollect the mo- 
ther said he was marked with elder wine on the hand. 
The father of the child, whose name is Austin, lives 
with me at Pimlico. My wife is a laundress, and 
washed the linen of the Prince. Austin is employed 
to turn a mangle for me. The child was born in Brown- 
low-street, and it was baptized there; but I only know 
this from the mother. The mother has since lain-in 
a second time in Biownlow-street. I never saw the 



18 

woman to my knowledge before she came with the 
petition to the door. I had no particular directions 
by the Princess to procure a child. I thought it bet- 
ter to take the child of persons of good character, than 
the child of a pauper. Nothing led me from the ap- 
pearance of the Princess, to suppose that she was with 
child, but from her shape it is difficult to judge when 
she is with child. When she was with child of the 
Princess Charlotte, I should not have known it when 
she was far advanced in her time, if I had not been 
told it. Sir Sidney Smith at one time visited very fre- 
quently at Montague House, two or three times a week. 
At the time the Princess was altering her rooms in the 
Turkish style, Sir Sidney Smith's visits were very fre- 
quent. The Princess consulted him upon them. Mr. 
Morell was the upholsterer. Sir Sidney Smith came 
frequently alone. He stayed alone with the Princess 
sometimes till eleven o'clock at night. He has been 
there till twelve o'clock, and after, I believe alone with 
the Princess. The Princess is of that lively vivacity,, 
that she makes herself familiar with gentlemen, which 
prevented my being struck with his staying so late. I 
do not believe that at that time any other gentleman 
visited the Princess so frequently, or stayed so late. 
I have seen the Princess when they were alone sitting 
with Sir Sidney Smith on the same sofa in the Blue 
Room. I had access to the Blue Room at all times. 
There was an inner room which opened into the Blue 
Room. When that room was not lighted up, I di4 
not go into it, and did not consider that I had a right 
to go into it. I had no idea on what account I was 
brought here. I did not know that the Princess's 
conduct was questioned or questionable. I was with 
the Princess at Ramsgate, When she was at East 



19 

Cliff, Captain Manby was very frequently there; went 
away as late at night as eleven o'clock. I don't re- 
member Fanny Lloyd being called up any morning to 
make breakfast for the Princess. I did not like Capt. 
Manby coming so often, and staying so late, and I 
was uneasy at it. I remember a piece of plate, a silver 
lamp, being sent to Captain Manby. I saw it in 
Sicard's possession. He told me it was for Captain 
Manby, and he had a letter to send with it. I have 
never seen Captain Manby at the Princess's at Rams- 
gate before nine o'clock in the morning, but I have 
heard he has been there earlier. I had never any sus- 
picions of there being any thing improper, either from 
the frequent visits of Captain Manby, or from his con- 
duct. I was at Catherington with the Princess. She 
used to go out generally in her own chaise. I think 
I have once or twice seen her go with Mr. Hood in his 
one-horse chaise. They have been out for two hours, 
or two hours and a half, together. I believe only a 
day or two elapsed between the time the child being 
first brought, and being then brought back again, and 
left with the Princess. I am sure the child was not 
weaned after it had been first brought. I don't re- 
collect any gentleman ever sleeping in the house. I 
don't remember Lawrence the painter ever sleeping 
there. The Princess seems very fond of the child. It 
is always called William Austin. 

THOMAS STIKEMAN. 
Sworn at Lord Grenville's house in Downing-street, 
the seventh day of June, 1806, before us, 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A true Copy, GRENVILLE, 

J. Becket. ELLENBO ROUGH. 



20 

(No. 10.) 

The Deposition of John Sicai^d. 
I have lived seven years with the Princess of Wales, 
am house-steward, and have been in that situation from 
the end of six months after I first lived with Her Royal 
Highness. I remember the child who is now with the 
Princess of Wales being brough there, It was about iive 
months old when it was brough). It is about four years 
ago, just before we went to Ramsgate. I had not the 
least suspicion of the object of my being brought here 
I had opportunity of seeing the Princess frequently. 1 
waited on her at dinner and supper. I never observed 
that the Princess had the appearance of being with child. 
I think it was hardly possible that she should have been 
with child without my perceiving it. Sir Sidney Smith 
used to visit very frequently at Montague House in 1802, 
with Sir John aud Lady Douglas. He was very often, I 
believe, alone with the Princess, and so was Mr. Canning, 
and other gentlemen. I cannot say that I ever suspected 
Sir Sidney Smith of any improper conduct with the Prin- 
cess. I never had any suspicion of the Princess acting 
improperly with Sir Sidney Smith or any other gentleman 
I remember Captain Manby visiting at Montague House. 
The Princess of Wales did not pay for the expence of 
fitting up his cabin, but the linen furniture was ordered 
by me, by direction of the Princess, of Newberry and 
Jones. It was put by Newberry and Jones in the Prin- 
cess's bill, and was paid for with the rest of the bill by 
Miss Hey man. 

JOHN SICARD. 
Sworn at Lord Grenville's house in Downing-street, 
the seventh day of June, 1806, before us, 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A true Copy, GRENVILLE, 

J. Becket. ELLENBOROUGH, 



21 

(No. 11.) 

The Deposition of Charlotte Sander. 

I have lived with the Princess of Wales eleven years. 
I am a native of Brunswick, and came with the Princess 
from Brunswick. The Princess has a little boy living with 
her under her protection. He had a mark on his hand, 
but it is worn off. I first saw him four years ago, in the 
autumn. The father and mother of the child are still 
alive. I have seen them both. The father worked in the 
Dock Yard at Deptford, but has now lost the use of his 
limbs. The father's name is Austin. The mother brought 
the child to the Princess when he was four months old. 
I was present when the child was brought to the Princess. 
She was in her own room up stairs when the child was 
brought. She came out and took the child herself. I 
understood that the child was expected before it was 
brought. I am sure that I never saw the child in the 
house before it appeared to be four months old. The 
Princess was not ill or indisposed in the autumn of 1802. 
I was dresser to Her Royal Highness. She could not be 
ill or indisposed without my knowing it. I am sure that 
she was not confined to her room or to her bed in that 
autumn. There was not to my knowledge any other child 
in the house. It was hardly possible there could have 
been a child there without my knowing it. I have no re- 
collection that the Princess had grown bigger in the year 
1802 than usual. I am sure the Princess was not preg- 
nant. Being her dresser, I must have seen if she was. 
I solemnly and positively swear J have no reason to know 
or believe that the Princess of Wales has been at any 
time pregnant during the time I have lived with Her 
Royal Highness at Montague House. I may have said 
to Cole that the Princess was grown much thinner, but I 



don't recollect that I did. I never heard any body say 
any thing about the Princess being pregnant till I came 
here to-day. I did no>t expect to be asked any question 
to-day respecting the Princess being pregnant. Nobody 
came over to the Princess from Germany in the autumn 
of 1802 to my knowledge. Her Royal Highness was 
generally blooded twice in a year, but not lately. I ne- 
ver had any reason to suppose that the Princess received 
the visits of any gentlemen at improper hours. Sir Sid- 
ney Smith visited her frequently, and almost daily. He 
was there very late, sometimes till two o'clock in the 
morning. I never saw Sir Sidney Smith in a room alone 
with the Princess late at night. I never saw any thing 
which led me to suppose that Sir Sidney Smith was on a 
very familiar footing with the Princess of Wales. I at- 
tended the Princess of Wales to Southend. She had 
two houses, No. 9. and No. 8. I knew Captain Manby. 
He commanded the Africaine. He visited the Princess. 
While his ship was there, he was frequently with the 
Princess. I don't know or believe, and I have no reason 
to believe, that Captain Manby staid till very late hours 
with the Princess. I never suspected that there was any 
improper familiarity between them. I never expressed to 
any body a wish that Captain Manby 's visits were not so 
frequent. If the Princess had company, I was never 
present. The Princess was at Ramsgatein 1803. I have 
seen Captain Manby there frequently. He came to the 
Princess's house to dinner. He never stayed till late at 
night at the Princess's house. I was in Devonshire with 
the Princess lately. There was no one officer that she 
saw when she was in Devonshire more than the rest. 1 
never heard from the Princess that she apprehended her 
conduct was questioned. When I was brought here I 
thought I might be questioned respecting the Princess's 
conduct, and I was sorry to come. I don't know why I 



£3 

thought so. I never saw any thing in the conduct of tht 
Princess while I lived with her, which would have made 
me uneasy if I had been her husband. When I was at 
Southend I dined in the Steward's room. I can't say 
whether I ever heard any body in the steward's room say 
any thing about the Captain, meaning Captain Manby. 
It is so long ago I may have forgot it. I have seen Cap- 
tain Manby alone with the Princess at No. 9, in'thedraw* 
ing-room at Southend. I have seen it only once or twice. 
It was at two or three o'clock in the afternoon, and ne- 
ver later. I slept in a room next to the Princess in the 
house No. 9, at Southend. I never saw Captain Manby 
in any part of that house but the drawing-room. I have 
no reason to believe he was in any other room in the 
house. I was at Catherington with the Princess. She 
was at Mr. Hood's house. I never saw any familiarity 
between her and Mr. Hood, I have seen her drive 
out in Mr. Hood's carriage with him alone. It was a gig. 
They used to be absent for several hours. A servant of 
the Princess attended them. 1 have delivered packets by 
the order of the Priucess, which she gave me sealed up, 
to Sicard, to be by him forwarded to Captain Manby. 
The birth-day of the child who lives with the Princess is 
the 11th of July, as his mother told me. She says that 
he was christened at Deptford. The child had a mark on 
the hand. The mother told me that it was from red wine. 
I believe the child came to the Princess in November. 

C. SANDER. 

Sworn at Lord Grenville's house in Downing- street, 
the seventh day of June, 1806. 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A true Copy, G RENVILLE, 

J. Becket. ELLENBOROUGH. 



24 



(No. 12.) 

Deposition of Sophia Austin. 

I know the child which is now with the Princess of 
Wales. I am the mother of it. I was delivered of it 
four years ago the 1 1th of July next, at Brownlow-street 
Hospital. I have lain in there three times. William, 
who is with the Princess, is the second child I laid in of 
there. It was marked in the right hand with red wine. 
My husband was a labourer in the Dock-yard at Depr- 
ford. When peace was proclaimed, a number of the 
workmen were discharged, and my husband was one 
who was discharged. I went to the Princess with a 
petition on a Saturday, to try to get my husband re- 
stored. I lived at that time at Deptford New-Row, 
No. 7, with a person of the name of Bearblock. He 
was a milkman. The day I went to the Princess with 
the petition, was a fortnight before the 6th of November. 
Mr. Ben net, a baker in New-street, was our dealer, and 
I took the child to Mr. Bennet's when I went to re- 
ceive my husband's wages every week from the time I 
left the Hospital till I carried the child to the Princess. 
I knew Mr. Stikeman only by having seen him once 
before, when I went to apply for a letter to Brownlow- 
street Hospital. When I went to Montague House, 
I desired Mr. Stikeman to present my petition. He 
said they were denied to do such things, but seeing 
roe with a baby he could do no less. He then took the 
child from me, and was a long time gone. He then 
brought me back the child, and brought half-a-guinea 
which the ladies sent me. He said if the child had 
been younger, he could have got it taken care of for 
me, but desired that I would come up again. I went 



25 

ap again on the Monday following, and I saw Mr» 
Stikeman. Mr. Stikeman afterwards came several 
times to us, and appointed tne to take the child to 
Montague House on the 5th of November, but it 
rained all day, and I did not take it. Mr. Stikeman 
came down to me on the Saturday the 6th of Novem- 
ber, and I took the child on that day to the Princess's 
house. The Princess was out. 1 waited till she re- 
turned. She saw the child, and asked its age. I went 
down into the coffee-room, and they gave me some 
arrow-root to wean the child ; for I was suckling the 
child at this time, and when I had weaned the child, I 
was to bring it and leave is with the Princess. I did 
wean the child, and brought it to the Princess's house on 
the 15th of November, and left it there, and it has been 
with the Princess ever since. 1 saw the child last Whit- 
Monday, and I swear that it is my child. 

SOPHIA AUSTIN. 

Sworn at Lord Grenville's house in Downing-street, 
the seventh day of June, 1806, before us, 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A -true Copy, GRENVILLE, 

J. Beckfl. ELLENBOROUGH. 

(No. 13.) 
Earl Spencer to Lord Gwydir. 

20th June, 1806. 

My Lord, 

In consequence of certain inquiries directed by his 

Majesty, Lady Douglas, wife of Sir John Douglas of the 

Marines, has deposed upon oath that she was told by her 

# ig 



so 

Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, that at a break- 
fast at Lady Willoughby's house in May or June, 1802, 
&c. 

[Extract from Lady Douglas's Deposition.'] 

It being material to ascertain, as far as possible, the 
truth of this fact, I am to request that your Lordship will 
have the goodness to desire Lady Willoughby to put down 
in writing every circumstance in any manner relative 
thereto (if any such there be) of which her Ladyship has 
any recollection ; and also to apprize me, for his Ma- 
jesty's information, whether at any time, during the 
course of the abovementioned year, Lady Willoughby ob- 
served any such alteration in the Princess's shape, or any 
other circumstances, as might induce her Ladyship t« 
believe that her Royal Highness was then pregnant. 

I am, 8cc. 

A true Copy, 

J. Becket. SPENCER 



(No. 14.) 

Sidmouth, 21st June, 1806. 

My dear Lord, 

In obedience to your commands, I lost no time in com- 
municating to Lady Willoughby the important subject of 
your private letter, dated the 20th instant, and I have the 
honour of enclosing a letter to your Lordship from Lady 
Willoughby. 

I have the honour, &c. 
A true Copy, 

J. Becket. GWYDIR. 



*7 

(No. 15.) 

My Lord, 
In obedience to the command contained in your Lord- 
ship's letter communicated to me by Lord Gwydir, I 
have the honour to inform you, that I have no recollec- 
tion whatever of the fact stated to have taken place, du- 
ring a breakfast at Whitehall in May or June 1802 ; nor 
do I bear in mind any particular circumstances relative 
to her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, at the pe- 
riod to which you allude. 

I have the honour, &c. 

WILLOUGHBY. 
June 21, 1806. 

Earl Spencer. 
A true Copy, 

J. Becket. 

(No. 16.) 

Extract from the Register of the Births and 
Baptisms of Children born in the Brownlow- 
street Lying-in Hospital. 

Born 3802, Baptized, 

May, 

8, Thomas, of Richard and Elizabeth Austin, 20 

July, 
11, William, of Samuel and Sophia Austin, 15 

The above are the only two entries under the name of 
Austin, about the period in question, and were extracted 
by me. No description of the children is preserved. 

CHARLES WATKIN WILLIAMS WYNN. 
June 23, 1806. 
A true Cop}^ 

J. Becket. 



28 



(No. 17.) 

The Deposition of Elizabeth Gosden. 

I am the wife of Francis Gosden, who is a servant of 
the Princess of Wales, and has lived with her Royal 
Highness eleven years. In November, 1802, I was sent 
for to the Princess's house to look after a little child ; I 
understood that he had been then nine days in the house. 
I was nurse to the child. One of the ladies, I think Miss 
Sander, delivered the child to me, and told me her Royal 
Highness wished me to take care of him. The child never 
slept with the Princess. I sometimes used to take him to 
the Princess before she was up, and leave him with her 
on her bed. The child had a mark on the hand, it ap- 
peared to be a stain of wine, but is now worn out. I wa6 
about a year and three quarters with the child. The 
mother used to come often to see him. I never saw the 
Princess dress the child, or take off its things herself; but 
she has seen me do it. The child is not so much witb 
the Princess now as be was. 

ELIZ. GOSDEN. 

Sworn at Lord Grenville's house in Downing-street, 
the 23d day of June, 1806, before us, 

ERKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A true Copy, GRENVILLE, 

J. Bechet. ELLENBOROUGH. 



39 



(No. 18.) 

Deposition of Betty Toxvnlty. 

I lived at Charlton sixteen years, and till within the 
last two years. I was a laundress, and used to wash 
inen for the Princess of Wales's family. After the Prin- 
ess left Charlton and went to Blackheath, I used to go 
over to Blackheath to fetch the linen to wash. I have 
had linen from the Princess's house the same as other 
ladies : 1 mean that there were such appearances on it as 
might arise from natural causes to which women are sub- 
ject. I never washed the Princess's own bed-linen, but 
once or twice occasionally. I recollect one bundle of 
linen once coming, which I thought rather more marked 
than usual. They told me that the Princess had been 
bleed with leeches, and it dirtied the linen more : the ser- 
vants told me so, but I don't remember who the servants 
were that told me so. I recollect once, I came to town 
and left the linen wilfi my daughter to wash ; I looked 
at the clothes slowly before I went, and counted them, 
and my daughter, and a woman she employed with her, 
washed them while I was in town. I thought when 1 
looked them over, that there might be something more 
than usual. My opinion was, that it was from * * * * 
# * The linen had the appearance of # * * # # # , I 
believed it at the time. They were fine damask napkins, 
and some of them marked with a little red crown in the 
corner, and some without marks. I might mention it to 
Fanny Lloyd. I don't recollect when this was, but it 
must be more than two years and a half ago ; for I did 
not wash for the Princess's family .but very little for the 
last six months. Mary Wilson used to give me the 
linen, and I believe it was she who told me that the 
Princess was bled with leeches ; but the appearance of 
the linen which I have spoken of before, was different 



50 

from that which it was said was stained by bleeding witfe 
leeches. I remember the child coming. I used to wash 
the linen for the child, and Mrs Gosden who nursed the 
child, used to pay me for it. I kept a book, in which I 
entered the linen I washed. I am not sure whether I have 
it still : — but if I have, it is in a chest at my daughters, at 
Charlton, and I will produce it if I can find it. 

B. TOWNLEY. 

Sworn at Lord Grenville's House in Downing-street, 
the 23d day of June, 1806, before us, 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A true Copy, GRENVILLE, 

J. Becket. ELLENBOROUGH. 



(No. 19.) 

Deposition of Thomas Edmeades, of Greenwich, 
Surgeon and Apothecary. 

I am a surgeon and apothecary at Greenwich, and was 
appointed the surgeon and apothecary of the Princess of 
Wales, in 1081. From that time I have attended her 
Royal Highness and her household. I knew Fanny Lloyd 
who attended in the coffee-room, at the Princess's. I 
frequently attended her for colds. I do not recollect that I 
ever said any thing to her respecting the Princess of Wales. 
It never once entered my thoughts while I attended the 
Princess, that she was pregnant. I never said that she 
was so to Fanny Lloyd. I have bled the Princess twice; 



31 

the second bleeding was in 1802, and it was in the June 
quarter, as appears by the book I kept. I don't know 
what she was bled for — it was at her own desire— it was 
flot by any medical advice. I was unWilling to do it, but 
ahe wished it. If I recollect, she complained of a pain in 
her chest, but I don't remember that she had any illness. 
I did not use to bleed her twice a year. I certainly saw 
her Royal Highness in Nov. 1802. I saw her on the 16th 
of November, but I had not any idea of her being then 
with child. I did not attend her on the 16th November, 
but I saw her then ; I was visiting a child (a male child,) 
from Deptford. I iiave no recollection of having seen the 
Princess in October, 1802. The child must have been 
from three to five months old when I first saw it.- I have 
no recollection of the Princess having been ill about the 
end of October, 1802. I have visited the child very often 
since, and I have always understood it to be the same 
child. The Princess used sometimes to send for leeches, 
and had them from me. I don't think that I attended 
the Princess, or saw her often, in the summer and autumn 
of 1802. I had not the sole care of the Princess's health 
during the time I have spoken of. Sir Francis Millmaa 
attended her occasionally. 

THOMAS EDMEADES. 

Sworn at Lord Grenville's House in Downing-street, 
the 25th day of June, 1806, before us, 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A true Copy, GRENVILLE, 

J. Becket. ELLENBOROUGH, 



St 



(No, 20.) 

Deposition of Samuel Gillam Mills, of Greenwich, 
Surgeon. 

I am a surgeon at Greenwich ; have been in partnership 
with Mr. Edmeades since 1800. Before he was ray part- 
ner I attended the Princess of Wales's Family from the 
time of her coming to Blackheath from Charlton. I was 
appointed by the Princess her surgeon, in April, 1801, by 
a written appointment, and from that time I never at- 
tended her Royal Highness, or any of the servants, in my 
medical capacity , except that 1 once attended Miss Gouch, 
and once Miss Millfield. There was a child brought to the 
Princess while I attended her. I was called upon to exa- 
mine the child. It was a girl. It must have been in 1801, 
or thereabouts. The child afterwards had the measles, and 
Iattended her. When first I saw the child, I think it must 
have been about ten months old. It must have been prior 
to April, 1801. I understood that the child was taken 
through charity. I remember that there was a female ser- 
vant who attended in the coffee-room. I never said to that 
womam, or to any other person, that the Princess was with 
child, or looked as if she was with child, and I never 
thought so, or surmised any thing of the kind. I \*a$ 
once sent for by her Royal Highness to bleed her. I was 
not at home, and Mr. Edmeades bled her. I had bled her 
two or three times before ; it was by direction of Sir Fran- 
cis Millman. It was for an inflammation she had on the 
lungs. As much as I knew it was not usual for the Prin- 
cess to be bled twice a year. I don't know that any other 
medical person attended hei at the time that I did, nor do 
I believe that there did. I don't know that Sir Francis 
Millman had advised that she should be blooded at the 
time that I was sent for and was not at home, nor wh« 
wag the cause of her being then blooded. I do recollect 



S3 

something of having attended the servant who was in the 
coffee-room, for a cold, but I am sure I never said to her 
that the Princess was with child, or looked as if she was so. 
I have known that the Princess has frequently sent to Mr. 
Edmeades for leeches. When I saw the female child, Mrs. 
Sander was in the room, and some other servants, but I 
don't recollect who. I was sent for to see whether there 
was any disease about the child — to see whether it was a 
healthy child, as Her Royal Highness meant to take it 
under her patronage. The child could just walk alone. 
I saw the child frequently afterwards. It was at one time 
with Bidgood, and another time with Gosden and his 
wife. I don't recollect that the Princess was by at any 
time when 1 saw the child. I never saw the child in Mon- 
tague House when I attended it as a patient, but when I 
was first sent for to see if the child had any disease, it was 
in Montague House. 

SAMUEL GILLAM MILLS. 

Sworn at Lord Grenville's House in Downing-street, 
the 25th day of June, 1806, before us, 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A true Copy, GRENVILLE, 

J. BeckeU ELLEN BOROUGH. 



(No. 21.) 
Deposition of Harriet Fitzgerald. 

I came first to live with the Princess of Wales in 1801, 
merely as a friend and companion, and have continued to 
Jive with her Royal Highness to this time. I know Lady 



34 

Douglas. I remember her lying in. It happened by ac- 
cident that Her Royal Highness was in the honseat the 
time of Lady Douglas's delivery. I think it was in July, 
1802. I was there myself. The Princess was not in the 
room at the time Lady Douglas was delivered. There was 
certainly no appearance of the Princess being pregnant at 
that time. I saw the Princess at that time every day, and 
at all hours. I believe it to be quite impossible that the 
Princess should have been with child without my observing 
it. I never was at a breakfast with the Princess at Lady 
Willoughby's. The Princess took a little girl into the 
house about nine years ago. I was not in the house at the 
time. I was in the house when the boy, who is now there, 
was brought there. She had said before openly that she 
should like to have a child, and she had asked the servant 
who brought the cbild, if he knew of any persons who 
would part with a child. I was at Southend with the Prin- 
cess. I remember Captain Manby being there sometimes. 
He was not there very often. He used to come at different 
hours, as the tide served. He dined there, but never 
stayed late. I was at Southend all the time the Princess 
was there. I cannot recollect that I have seen Captain 
Manby there, or known him to be there, later than nine, 
or half after nine. I never knew of any correspondence by 
letter with him when he was abroad. I don't recollect to 
have seen him ever early in the morning at the Princess's* 
I was at Ramsgate with the Princess. Captain Manby 
may have dined there once. He never slept there to my 
knowledge, nor do I believe he did. The Princess rises at 
different hours, seldom before ten or eleven. I never knew 
her up at six o'clock in the morning. If she had been up 
so early I should not have known it, not being up so early 
myself. I remember the Princess giving Captain Manby 
an inkstand. He had the care of two boys whom she 
protected. I can't say that Captain Manby did not sleep 
at Southend. He may have slept in the village, but I be- 



35 

lieve he never slept in the Princess's house. I was at Ca- 
therington with the Princess. I remember Her Royal 
Highness going out in an open carriage with the present 
Lord Hood. I believe Lord Hood's servant attended 
them. There was only one servant, and no other carriage 
with them. I was at Dawlish this summer with the Prin- 
cess, and afterwards at Mount Edgcumbe. The Princess 
saw a great deal of company there. Sir Richard Strachan 
used to come there. I don't know what was the cause of 
his discontinuing his visits there. I remember Sir Sidney 
Smith being frequently at Montague House. He was 
sometimes there as late as twelve and one o'clock in the 
morning, but never alone that I know of. The Princess 
was not in the room when Lady Douglas was brought to 
bed. I know she was not, because I was in the room my- 
self when Lady Douglas was delivered. Dr. Mackie of 
Lewisham, was the accoucheur. I don't recollect Sir 
Sidney Smith ever being alone with the Princess in the 
evening. It may have happened, but I don't know that 
it did. I used to sit with the Princess always in the even- 
ing, but not in the morning. I was with the Princess in 
the Isle of Wight. Mr. Hood and Lord Amelius Beau- 
clerc were there with her. She went there from Ports- 
mouth. 

HARRIET FITZGERALD. 

Sworn before us at Lord Grenville's house in Down- 
ing-street, the 27th day of June, 1806, before us, 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
A true Copy, GRENVILLE, 

J. Becket. ELLENBOROUGH. 



56 

(No. 22.) 

Whitehall, July I, 1806. 



My Lord, 



The extreme importance of the business on which I 
have before troubled your Lordship and Lady Wil- 
loughby, makes it the indispensable duty of the persohs 
to whom His Majesty has entrusted the Inquiry, fur- 
ther to request that her Ladyship will have the goodness 
to return in writing, distinct and separate answers to the 
enclosed Queries. They beg leave to add, that in the 
discharge of the trust committed to them, they have been 
obliged to examine upon oath the several persons to whose 
testimony the} 7 have thought it right to have recourse on 
this occasion. They have been unwilling to give Lady 
Willoughby the trouble of so long a journey for that pur- 
pose, well knowing the full reliance which may be placed 
on every thing which shall be stated by her Ladyship in 
this form. But on her return to town it may probably be 
judged necessary, for the sake of uniformity in this most 
important proceeding, that she should be so good as to 
confirm on oath, the truth of the written answers re- 
quested from her Ladyship^ 



(No Signature in the original,) 



37 

(No. 23.) 

Sidmouth, July 3, 1806. 
My Lord, 

I immediately communicated to Lady Willoughby 
the Queries transmitted to me in the envelope of a letter 
dated July the first, which I had the honour to receive 
this day from your Lordship. I return the Queries with 
Lady Willoughby's Answers in her own hand-writing. 

We are both truly sensible of your Lordship's kind at- 
tention in not requiring Lady Willoughby 's personal 
attendance. She will most readily obey the Order of the 

Council, should her presence become necessary. 
I have the honour, &c. 

GWYDIR. 
To Earl Spencer, fyc. 3$c. fyc. 

A true Copy, 
X Becket. 



(No. 24.) 

Queries. Answers. 

1. Does Lady Willough- 1. In the course of the 

by remember seeing the last ten years the Princess 

Princess of Wales at break- of Wales has frequently 

fast or dinner at her house, done me the honour to 

either at Whitehall or Bee- breakfast and dine at White- 



38 



kenhani, on or about the 
months of May or June, 
1802 ? 



hall, and Langley, in Kent. 
Her Royal Highness may 
have been at my house in 
the months of May or June, 
1802, but of the periods at 
which I had the honour of 
receiving her, I have no 
precise recollection. 



<2. Has her Ladyship any 
recollection of the circum- 
stance of Her Royal High- 
ness having retired from the 
company at such breakfast 
or dinner, on account, or 
under the pretence, of hav- 
ing spilt any thing over her 
handkerchief? And if so, 
did Lady Willoughby attend 
Her Royal Highness on that 
occasion ? and what then 
passed between them rela- 
tive to that circumstance r 



3. I do not remember 
Her Royal Highness hav- 
ing at any time retired 
from the company, either at 
Whitehall, or at Langley, 
under the pretence of hav- 
ing spilt any thing over her 
handkerchief. 



3. Had Lady Willoughby 
frequent opportunities in 
the course of that year, to 
see Her Royal Highness 
the Princess of Wales, and 
at what periods? And did 
she at any time during the 
year, observe any appear- 
ance, which led her to sus- 
pect that the Princess of 
Wales was pregnant ? 



3. To the best of my re- 
membrance I had few op- 
portunities of seeing the 
Princess of Wales in the 
year 1802, and I do not re- 
collect having observed any 
particular circumstances re- 
lative to Her Royal High- 
ness's appearance. 



39 



A. Is Lady Willoughby 
acquainted with any other cir- 
cumstances leading to the 
same conclusion, or tending 
to establish the fact of a 
criminal intercourse, or im- 
proper familiarity between 
Her Royal Highness and 
»any other person whatever? 
and if so, what are they ? 



4. During the ten years 
I have had the honour of 
knowing the Princess ©f 
Wales, I do not bear in 
mind a single instance of 
Her Royal Highness.'* con- 
duct in society towards any 
individual, tending to estab- 
lish the fact of a criminal 
intercourse, or improper fa- 
miliarity. 



WILLOUGHBY. 



(No. 25.) 



Robert Bidgood-— further deposition. 

The Princess used to go out in her phaeton with coach- 
man and helper, towards Long Reach, eight or ten 
times, carrying luncheon and wine with her, when Cap- 
tain Manby's ship was at Long Reach — always Mrs. Fitz- 
gerald with her — She would go out at one, and return 
about five or six — sometimes sooner or later. The day 
the Africaine sailed from Southend the Princess ordered 
us to pack up for Blackheath next morning. Captain 
Manby there three times a week at the least, whilst his 
ship lay for six weeks off Southend at the Nore — he came 
as tide served — used to come in a morning, and dine and 
drink tea. I have seen him next morning by ten o'clock. 
I suspected he slept at No. 9, the Princess's — she always 
put out the candles herself in the drawing-room at No. 9; 
and bid me not wait to put them up; she gave me the or- 



40 

j ders as soon as she went to Southend. I used to see 
water-jugs, basons, and towels, set out opposite the 
Princess's door, in the passage, — never saw them so left 
in the passage at any other time ; and I suspected he was 
there at those times. There was a general suspicion 
throughout the house. Mrs. and Miss Fitzgerald there, 
and -Miss Hamond (now Lady Hood) there. My sus- 
picions arose from seeing them in the glasses kiss each 
other, as I mentioned before, like people fond of each 
other — a very close kiss. — Her behaviour like that of a 
woman attached to a man; — used to *be by themselves at 
luncheon at Southend — when ladies not sent for — a num- 
ber of times. There was a poney which Captain Manby 
used to ride ; it stood in the stable ready for him, and 
which Sicard used to ride. 

The servants used to talk and laugh about Captain 
Manby, it was matter of discourse amongst them. I lived 
there when Sir Sidney Smith came, her manner with him 
appeared very familiar. She appeared very attentive to 
him but I did not suspect any thing farther. All the up- 
per servants had keys of the doors to the Park to let her 
Royal Highness in and out. I used to see Sicard receive 
letters from Mrs. Sander to put in the post instead of the 
bag. This was after Captain Manby was gone to sea 
I suspected this to be for Captain Manby, and others in 
the house suspected the same. 

(Signed) R. BIDGOOD. 

Sworn before us in Downing-street, this third day of 
July. 

(Signed) ERSKINE, 

SPENCER, 
A true Copy, GRENVILLE, 

/. Becket. ELLEN BOROUGH. 



(No. 26.) 

Sw Francis Millmans Deposition, 



I attended the Princess of Wales in the Spring and 
latter end of the year 1802; i. e. in March, and towards 
the autumn. Mr. Mills of Greenwich attended then as 
her Royal Highness's apothecary, and Mr. Mills and his 
partner Mr. Edmeades have attended since. I do not 
know that any other medkai person attended at that time, 
either as apothecary or physician. In March 1802, I 
attended her for a sore throat and fever. In 1803, in 
April, I attended Her Royal Highness again, with Sir 
Walter Farquhar. I don't know whether she was blooded 
in 1802. She was with difficulty persuaded to be blooded 
in 1803, for a pain in her chest, saying she had not been 
blooded before ; that they could not find a vein in her 
arm. I saw no mark on her arm of her having been 
blooded before. I observed her Royal Highness's person 
at the end of that year 1802. Never observed then, or at 
any other time, any thing which induced me to think her 
Royal Highness was in a pregnant situation. I think it 
is impossible she should, in that year, have been delivered 
of a child without my observing it. She during that year, 
and at all times, was in the habit of receiving the visits of 
the Duke of Gloucester . 

I never attended Her Royal Highness but on extraordi- 
nary illnesses. Her Royal Highness has, for the last year 
and half, had her prescriptions made up at Walker ani 
Young's, St. James's-street. 



42 

f she had been a pregnant woman in June 1S02, I 
could not have helped observing it. 

FR. MILLMAN. 

Sworn before us in Downing-street, July third, ] 806, 
by the said Sir Francis Millman. 

ERSKINE, 
A true Copy, SPENCER, 

J. BeckeL GRENVILLE, 

ELLENBOROUGH. 



(No. 27.) 
The Deposition of Mrs. Lisle* 

I (Hester Lisle) am in the Princess of Wales's fa- 
mily ; have been so ever since Her Royal Highness's mar- 
riage. I was not at Southend with the Princess — was at 
Blackheath with her in 1802, but am not perfectly sure 
as to date. I am generally a month at a time (three months 
in the year) with Her Royal Highness ; in April, August, 
and December; was so in August, 1802. I did not ob- 
serve any alteration in Her Royal Highness's shape which 
gave me any idea that she was pregnant. 1 had no reason 
to know or believe that she was pregnant. During my at- 
tendance, hardly a day passes without my seeing her. 
She could not have been far advanced in pregnancy with- 
out my knowing it. I was at East Cliff with her Royal 
Highness in August, 1803. I saw Captain Manby only 
once at East Cliff, in August, 1803, to the best of my 



43 

recollection. He might have been oftener : and once 
again at Deal Castle. Captain Manby landed there with 
some boys the Princess takes on charity. I saw Captain 
Manby at East ClifT one morning, not particularly early. 
I don't know of any presents which the Princess made Cap- 
tain Manby — have seen Captain Manby at Blackheaih 
one Christmas. He used to come to dine the Christmas 
before we were at Ramsgate — it was the Christmas after 
Mrs. Austin's child came. He always went away in my 
presence; I had no reason to think he sraid after we, the 
ladies, retired. He lodged on the Heath at that time — I 
believe his ship was fitting up at Deptford. He was 
there frequently, I think not every day — he generally 
came to dinner — three or four times a week, or more — I 
suppose he might be alone with her, but the Princess is 
in the habit of seeing gentlemen and tradesmen without 
my being present. — I have seen him at luncheon and din- 
ner both. The boys came with him, not to dinner, and 
not generally; not above two or three times— two boys; 
— 1 think Sir Sidney Smith came also frequently the 
Christmas before that, to the best of my recollection. At 
dinner, when Captain Manby dined, he always sat next 
her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. The con- 
stant company were, Mrs. and Miss Fitzgerald and my- 
self; we all retired with the Princess, and sat in the same 
room. He generally retired about eleven o'clock; he sat 
with us till then. This occurred three or four times a 
week, or more. Her Royal Highness, the Lady in wait- 
ing, and her Page, have each a key of the door from the 
Greenhouse to the Park. Captain Manby and the Prin- 
cess used, when we were together, to be speaking together 
separately — conversing separately, but not in a room alone 
together, to my knowledge. He was a person with whom 
she appeared to have greater pleasure in talking than to 
her Ladies. She behaved to him only as any woman 
would who likes flirting. I should not have thought any 



44 

Sttarried woman would have behaved properly who should 
have behaved as her Royal Highness did to Captain Man- 
by. I can't say whether she was attached to Captain 
Manby, only that it was a flirting conduct. — Never saw 
any gallantries, as kissing her hand, or the like. 

I was with her Royal Highness at Lady Sheffields's last 
Christmas, in Sussex. I inquired what company was there 
when I came. She said only Mr John Chester, who was 
there by Her Royal Highness's orders ;that she could get 
no other company to meet her, on account of the roads 
aad season of the year. He dined and slept there that 
night. The next day other company came ; Mr Chester 
remained. I heard her Royal Highness say she had been 
ill in the night, and came and lighted her candle in her 
servant's room. I returned from Sheffield Place to Black- 
heath with the Princess — Captain Moore dined there- — I 
left him and }he Princess twice alone, for a short time — 
he might be alone half an hour with her— in the room be- 
low, in which we had been sitting — I went to look for a 
book, to complete a set her Royal Highness was lending 
Captain Moore. She made him a present of an inkstand, 
to the best of my recollection. He was there one morn- 
ing in January last, on the Princess Charlotte's birth-day; 
he went away before the rest of the company : I might be 
absent about twenty minutes the second time I was away 
the night Captain Moore w r as there. At Lady Sheffield's, 
her Royal Highness paid more attention to Mr. Chester 
than to the rest of the company. I knew of her Royal 
Highness walking out alone twice wirh Mr. Chester — in 
the mornings — alone— once a short time ;- — it rained; the 
[ other, not an hour; not long. Mr. Chester is a pretty 
young man. Her attentions to him were not uncommon ; 
not the same as to Captain Manby. I am not certain 
whether the Princess answered any letters of Lady Doug^ 



45' 

ks. I was at Catherington with the Princess. Remember 
Mr. now Lord Hood, there, and the Princess going out 
airing with him alone in Mr. Hood's little whiskey, and 
his servant was with them. Mr. Hood drove, and staid 
out two or three hours more than once. Three or four 
times. Mr. Hood dined with us several times. Once 
or twice he slept in an house in the garden. She ap- 
peared to pay no attention to him but that of common 
civility to an intimate acquaintance. Remember the 
Princess sitting to Mr. Lawrence for her picture at Black- 
heath, and in London. I have left her at his house 
in town with bim, but I think Mis. Fitzgerand was with 
her; and she sat alone with him, I think, at Blackheath. 
I was never in her Royal Highness's confidence, but 
she has always been kind and good-natured to me. She 
never mentioned Captain Man by particularly to me. I 
remember her being blooded the day Lady Sheffield's 
child was christened. Not several times, that I recollect; 
nor any other time ; nor believe she was In the habit of 
being blooded twice a year. The Princess at one time 
appeared to like Lady Douglas. Sir John came fre- 
guently. Sir Sidney Smith visited about the same time 
with the Douglases. I have seen Sir Sidney there very 
late in the evening, but not alone with the Princess. I 
have no reason to suspect he had a key of the Park gate. 
I never heard of any body being found wandering about at 
Blackheath. I have heard of somebody being found wan- 
dering about late at night at Mount Edgcumbe, when the 
Princess [was] there. I heard that two women and a man 
were seen crossing the hall. The Princess saw a great deal 
of company at Mount Edgcumbe. Sir Richard Strachan 
was reported to have spoken freely of the Princess, I 
did not hear that he had offered a rudeness to her per- 
son. She told me she bad heard he had spoken disrespect- 



46 

fully of her, and therefore I believe wrote to him by Sit 
Samuel Hood. 

(Signed) HESTER LISLE. 

Sworn before ns, in Downing-street, this ihird day 
of July, 1806. 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
GRENVILLE, 
ELLENBOROUGH. 
A true Copy, 

J. Becket* 



(No. 28.) 

Lower Brook-street, July 5, 1806. 
My Lord, 
Before your arrival in Downing-street last night, I be- 
spoke the indulgence of the Lords of his Majesty's Coun- 
cil for inaccuracy as to dates, respecting any attendance 
at Blackheath, before 3803. Having only notice in the 
forenoon of an examination, I could not prepare myself 
for it to any period previous to that year, and I now hasten 
as fast as the examination of my papers will permit, to 
correct an error into which I fell, in stating to their Lord- 
ships, that I attended her Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales in the Spring of 1802, and that I then met his 
Royal Highness the late Duke of Gloucester at Black^ 
heath. It was in the Spring of 1801, and not in 1802, 
that, after attending her Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales for ten or twelve days, I had the honour of seeing 
the Duke of Gloucester at her house. 

I have the honour, &c. 
A true Copy, 

JBecket. FR. MILMAN. 



47 

(No. 29.)] 

Earl Cholmondeley, sworn July 16th, 1806. 

I have seen the Princess of Wales write frequently, 
and I think I am perfectly acquainted with her manner 
of writing. 

A letter produced to his Lordship marked (A.) 

This letter is not of the Princess's hand-writing. 

A paper produced to his Lordship, marked (B) with a 
kind of drawing and the names of >Sir Sidney Smith and 
Lady Douglas. 

This paper appears to me to be written in a disguised 
hand. Some of the letters remarkably resemble the Prin«* 
cess's writing ; but because of the disguise, I cannot say 
whether it be or be not her Royal Highness's writing. 

On the cover being shewn to his Lordship also marked 
(B), he gave the same answer. 

His Lordship was also shewn the cover marked (C), to 
which his Lordship answered, I do not see the same re* 
semblance to the Princess's writing in this paper. 

CBOLMONDELEY. 

Sworn before us, July 16th, 1806. 

ERSKINE, 
SPENCER, 
GRENVILLE, 
A true Copy, 

J. Becket, 



49 



APPENDIX (B.) 



Statement of Lady Douglas. 



jHis Royal Highness the Prince of Wales having judged 
proper to order me to detail to him, as Heir Apparent, 
the whole circumstance of my acquaintance with Her 
Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, from the day I 
first spoke with her to the present time, I felt it my duty, 
as a subject, to comply, without hesi r ation, with his Royal 
Highness's commands; and I did so, because I conceived, 
even putting aside the rights of an Heir Apparent, his 
Royal Highness was justified in informing himself as to 
the actions of his wife, who, from all the information he 
had collected, seemed so likely to disturb the tranquillity 
of the country; and it appeared to me that, in so doing, 
his Royal Highness evinced his earnest regard for the 
real interest of the country, in endeavouring to prevent 
such a person from, perhaps, one day, placing a spurious 
Heir upon the English Throne, and which his Royal 
Highness has indeed a right to fear, and communicate 
to the Sovereign, as the Princess of Wales told me, 
" If she were discovered in bringing her son into the world 
" she would give the Prince of Wales the credit of it, for 
" that she had slept two nights in the year she was preg- 
" nant in Carlton House." 



50 

As an Englishwoman, educated in the highest respect- 
ful attachment to the Royal Family ; as the daughter of an 
English Officer, who has all his life received the most gra- 
cious marks of approbation and protection from his Ma- 
jesty, and from his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales : 
and as the wife of an Officer whom our beloved King has 
honoured with a public mark of his approbation, and who 
is bound to the Royal Family by ties of respectful regard 
and attachment, which nothing can ever break, I feel it 
my duty to make known the Princess of Wales's senti- 
ments and conduct, now, and whensoever I may be called 
upon. 

For the information, therefore, of his Majesty and of 
the Heir Apparent, and by the desire of the Heir. Ap- 
parent, I beg leave to state, that Sir John took a house 
upon Blackheath in the year 1801, because the air was 
better for him, after his Egyptian services, than London, 
and it was somewhat nearer Chatham, where his mili- 
tary duties occasionally called him. I had a daughter 
born upon the 17th of February, and we took up our re- 
sidence there in April, living very happily and quietly ; 
but in the month of November, when the ground was co- 
vered with snow, as I was sitting in my parlour, which 
commanded a view of the Heath, I saw, to my surprise, 
the Princess of Wales, elegantly clressed in a lilac satin 
pelisse, primrose-coloured half boots, and a small lilac 
satin travelling cap, faced with sable, and a Lady, pacing 
up and down before the house, and sometimes stopping, 
as if desirous of opening the gate in the iron railing 
to come in. At first I had no conception her Royal High- 
ness really wished to come in, but must have mistaken 
the house for another person's, for I had never been made 
known to her, and I did not know that she knew where 
I lived. I stood at the window looking at her, and, as she 
looked very much, from respect courtesied (as I under- 
stood was customary) ; to my astonishment she returned 
my courtesy by a familiar nod, and stopped. Old Lady 



51 

Stuart, a West Indian Lady, who lived in my immediate 
neighbourhood, and who was in the habit of coining in to 
see me, was in the room, and said, "You should go out, 
her Royal Highness wants to come in out of the snow." 
Upon this I went out, and she came immediately to me 
and said, " I believe you are Lady Douglas, and you 
have a very beautiful child ; I should like to see it." I 
answered that I was Lady Douglas. Her Royal High- 
ness then said, "■ I should like of all things to see your 
little child." I answered, that I was very sorry I could 
not have the honour of presenting my little girl to her, as 
I and my family tvere spending the cold weather in town, 
and I was only come to pass an hour or two upon the 
Heath. I held open the gate, and the Princess of Wales 
and her Lady, Miss Heyman (I believe) walked in and 
sat down, and stayed above an hour, laughing very much 
at Lady Stuart, who being a singular character, talked 
all kind of nonsense. After her Royal Highness had 
amused herself as long as she pleased, she inquired where 
Sir John Douglas and Sir Sidney Smith were, and went 
away, having shook hands with me, and expressed her 
pleasure at having found me out and made herself known. 
X concluded that Sir Sidney Smith had acquainted her 
Royal Highness that we resided upon the Heath, as he 
was just arrived in England, and having been in long ha- 
bits of friendship with Sir John, was often with us, and 
told us how kind he should think it if we could let him 
come to and fro without ceremony, and let him have an 
airy room appropriated to himself, as he was alwavs ill 
in town, and from being asthmatic, suffered extremely 
when the weather was foggy in town. Sir John gave him 
that hospitable reception he was in the habit of doing by 
all his old friends, (for I understand they have been known 
to each other more than twenty years,) and he introduced 
him to me asa person, to whom he wished my friendly 
attention to be paid; as I had never seen Sir Sidney 



52 * 

Smith in my life, until this p^nod, when he became, as it 
were a part of the family When I returned to town, I 
told Sir John Douglas the circumstance of the Princess 
having visited me, and a few days after this, we received 
a note fioin Mrs. Lisle (who was in waiting) commanding 
us to dine at Montague House. We went, and tnere were 
several persons at tne dinner. 1 remember Lord and- Lady 
Dartmouth, and 1 think Mr. and Mrs. Arbuthnot, &c. &c. 
From this time the Princess made me frequent visits, al- 
ways attended by her Ladies, or Mrs. Sander (tier maid). 
When Sander came, she was sent back, or put in another 
room ; but when any of her Ladies were with her, we al- 
ways sat together. Her Royal Highness was never at- 
tended by any livery servants, but she always walked about 
Blaekheath and the neighbourhood only with her female 
attendants. In a short time, the Princess became so ex- 
travagantly fond of me, that, however flattering it might 
be, it certainly was verv troublesome Leaving her at- 
tendants below, she would push past my servant, and run 
up st; us into my bed-chamber, kiss me, take me in her 
arms, and tell me 1 vvos beautiful, saying she had never 
loved any woman so much; that she would regulate my 
dress, for she delighted in setting off a pretty woman ; 
and >uch high-flown compliments that women are never 
used to pay to each other. 1 used to beg her Royal High- 
ness not to feed my seif-love, as we had all enough of that, 
without encouraging one another. She would then stop 
me, and enumerate all my good points I had, saying she 
was detei mined to teach me to set them off. She would 
exclaim, Oh! believe me, you are quite beautiful, different 
from almost any Englishwoman; your arms are fine be- 
yond imagination, your bust is very good, and your eyes, 
Oh, I never saw such eyes — all other women who have 
dark eyes look fierce, but yours (my?deat Lady Douglas) 
are nothing but softness and sweetnees, and yet quite 
dark. In this manner she went on perpetually, even be- 



53 

fore strangers. I remember when I was one morning at 
her house, with her Royal Highness, Mrs. Harcourt and 
her Ladies, the Duke of Kent came to take leave before 
his Royal Highness went to Gibraltar. When we were 
sitting at table the Princess introduced me, and said — • 
Your Royal Highness must look at her eyes ; but now she 
has disguised herself in a large hat, you cannot see how 
handsome she is. The Duke of Kent was very polite and 
obliging, for he continued to talk with Mis, Harcourt, 
and took little notice, for which I felt much obliged ; but 
she persisted, and said — Take off your hat. I did not do 
it, and she took it off; but his Royal Highness, I suppose, 
conceiving it could not be very pleasant to me, took little 
notice, and talked of something else. 

Whenever the Princess visited us, either Sir John, or I, 
returned home with her and her party quite to her door; 
and if he were out, I went with her Royal Highness, and 
took my footman ; for we soon saw that her Royal High- 
ness was a very singular and a very indiscreet woman, and 
we resolved to be always very careful and guarded with 
her; and when she visited us, if any visitor whosoever 
came to our house, they were put into another room, and 
they could not see the Princess, or be in her society, unless 
she positively desired it. However, her Royal Highness 
forgot her high station (and she was always forgetting it); 
we trust, and hope, and feel satisfied, we never for a mo- 
ment lost sight of her being the wife of the Heir Apparent. 

We passed our time as Her Royal Highness chose when 
together, and the usual amusements were — playing French 
Proverbs, in which the Princess always cast the parts, and 
played; Musical Magic, forfeits of all kinds; sometimes 
dancing; and in this manner, either the Princess and her 
Ladies with me, or we at Montague House, we passed 
our time. Twice, after spending the morning with me, 
she remained without giving me any previous notice, and 
would dine with us, and thus ended the year 1S01. 



54 

In the month of February, before Miss Garth was t© 
come into waiting in March 1802, the Princess, in one of 
her morning visits, after she had sent Sander home, said, 
" My dear Lady Douglas, I am come to see you this 
" morning to ask a great favour of you, which I hope you 
" will grant me." I told her, " I was sure she could not 
" make any unworthy request, and that I could only say, 
" I should have great pleasure in doing any tiling to oblige 
" her, but I was really at a loss to guess how I possibly 
" could have it in my power to grant her a favour." Her 
Royal Highness replied, " what 1 have to ask is for you to 
come and spend a fortnight with me; you shall not be se- 
parated from Sir John, for he may be with you whenever 
he pleases, and bring your little girl and maid. I mean 
you to come to the Round Tower, where there are a com- 
plete suite of rooms for a lady and her servant. When 
Mrs. Lisle was in waiting, and hurt her foot, she resided 
there: Miss Heyman always was there, and Lord and 
Lady Lavington have slept there. When I have any 
married people visiting me, it is better than their being in 
the house, and we are only separated by a small garden. 
I dislike Miss Garth, and she hates to be with me, more 
than what her duty demands, and I don't wish to trouble 
any of my ladies out of their turn. I shall require you, 
as lady in waiting, to attend me in my walks ; and when I 
drive out : write my notes and letters for me, and be in 
the way to speak to any one who may come on business. 
I seldom appear until about three o'clock, and you may 
go home before I want you after breakfast every day." I 
replied, that being a married woman, I could not promise 
for myself, and, as Sir John was much out of health, I 
should not like to leave him ; but he was always so kind 
and good-natured to me, that I dared venture to say he 
would allow me if he could; and when he came home I 
asked him if I should go. Sir John agreed to the Prin- 
cess's desire, and I took the waiting. During my stay I 



55 

attended Her Royal Highness to the play and the opera, I 
think twice, and also to dine at Lord Dartmouth's and Mr. 
Windham's. At Mr. Windham's, in the evening, while 
one of the ladies was at the harpsichord, the Princess com- 
plained of being very warm, and called out for ale, which, 
by a mistake in the language, she always calls oil. Mrs. 
Windham was perfectly at a loss to comprehend her 
wishes, and came to me for an explanation. I told hei 
I believed she meant ale. Mrs. Windham said she had 
none in the house ; was it any particular kind she required i 
I told her I believed not ; that when the Princess thought 
proper to visit me, she always wanted it, and I gave her 
what I had, or could procure for her upon Blackheath. 
We could not always suddenly obtain what was wished. 
Mrs. Windham then proposed to have some sent for, and 
did so ; it was brought, and the Princess drank it all. — 
When at Lord Dartmouth's, his Lordship asked me if 1 
was the only lady in waiting, being, I suppose, surprised 
at my appearing in that situation, when, to his know- 
ledge, 1 had not known the Princess more than four 
months. I answered, 1 was at Montague House, acting 
as lady in waiting, until Miss Garth was well, as the Prin- 
cess told me she was ill. Lord Dartmouth looked sur- 
prised, and said he had not heard of Miss Garth being ill, 
and was surprised. I was struck with Lord Dartmouth's 
seeming doubt of Miss Garth's illness, and after, thought 
upon it. From the dinner we went at an early hour to 
the opera, and then returned to Blackheath. During this 
visit, I was greatly surprised at the whole style of the Prin- 
cess of Wales's conversation, which was constantly very 
loose, and such as 1 had not been accustomed to hear; 
such as, in many instances, I have not been able to repeat, 
even to Sir John, and such as made me hope 1 should 
cease to know her, before my daughter might be old 
enough to be corrupted by her. I confess I went home 
hoping and believing she was at times a good deal disor- 



56 

dered in her senses, or she never would have gone on as 
she did. When she^ came to sup with me in the Tower 
(which she often did) she would arrive in a long red cloak, 
a silk handkerchief tied over her head under her chin, and 
a pair of slippers down at the heels. 

After supper I attended her to the house. I found her a 
person without education or talents, and without any de- 
sire of improving herself. Amongst other things which 
surprised me while there, was a plan she told me she had 
in hand ; that Prince William of Gloucester liked me, and 
that she had written to him, to tell him a fair lady was in 
her Tower, that she left it to his own heart to find out 
who it was, but if he was the gallant Prince she thought 
him, he would fly and see. I was amazed at such a con- 
trivance, and said, Good God ! how could your Royal 
Highness do so ? I really like Sir John better than any 
body, and am quite satisfied and happy. I waited nine 
years for him, and never would marry any other person. 
The Princes3 ridiculed this, and said, Nonsense, non- 
sense, my dear friend. In consequence of the Princess's 
note, Prince William actually rode the next morning to 
the Tower, but by good fortune Sir Sidney Smith had pre- 
viously called and been admitted, and as we were walking 
by the house, Her Royal Highness saw the Prince com- 
ing, went immediately out of sight, and ran and told a 
servant to say she and I were gone walking, and we im- 
mediately' walked away to Charlton, having first, unper- 
ceived, seen Prince William ride back again, (of course 
not very well pleased, and possibly bdieving I had a hand 
in his ridiculous adventure.) It seems he was angry ; for 
soon after His Royal Highness, the late Duke of Glouces- 
ter, came and desired to see the Princess, and told her, 
that his son William had represented to him how very 
free she permitted Sir Sidney Smith to be, and how con- 
stantly he was visiting at Montague House ; thai it rested 
with herself to keep her acquaintance at a proper distance, 



57 

&nd as Sir Sidney was a lively, thoughtless man, and had 
not been accustomed to the society of ladies of her rank, 
he might forget himself, and she would then have herself 
to blame — that as a father, and an earnest friend, he 
came to her, very sorry indeed to trouble her, but he 
conjured and begged her to recollect how very peculiar 
her situation was, and how doubly requisite it was she 
should be more cautious than other people. To end this 
lecture (as she called it) she rang the bell, and desired 
Mr. Cole to fetch me. I went into the drawing-room, 
where the Duke and Her Royal Highness were sitting, 
and she introduced me as an old friend of Prince Wil- 
liam's. His Royal Highness got up, and looked at me 
very much, and then said, " The Princess has been talk- 
ing a great deal about you, and tells me you have made 
one of the most delightful children in the world, and in- 
deed it might well be so, when the mother was so hand- 
some and good-natured-looking." By this time I was so 
used to these fine speeches, either from the Princess, or 
from her through others, that I was ready to laugh, and 
I only said, " We did not talk about much beauty, but 
my little girl was in good health, and Her Royal High- 
ness was very obliging." As soon as His Royal Highness 
was gone, the Princess sent again for me, told me every 
word he had said, and said, " He is a good man, and 
therefore I took it as it was meant ; but if Prince William 
had ventured to talk to me himself, I would certainly 
have boxed his ears: however, as he is so inquisitive, 
and watches me, I will cheat him, and throw the dust in 
his eyes, and make him believe Sir Sidney comes here to 
see you, and that you and he are the greatest possible 
friends. I delight of all things in cheating those clever 
people." Her speech and intentions made me serious, 
and my mind w r as forcibly struck with the great danger 
there would follow to myself, if she were this kind of per- 



58 

son. I begged her not to think of doing such a thing, 
saying, Your Royal Highness knows it is not so, and 
although I would do much to oblige you, yet when my 
own character is at stake., t must stop. Good God, 
Ma'am, His Royal Highness would naturally repeat it, 
and what should i do ? Reputation will not bear being 
sported with. The Princess took me by the hand and 
said, Certainly my dear Lady Douglas, I know very well 
t is not so, and therefore it does not signify. I am sure 
it is not so, that I am sure of. I have much too good an 
opinion of you, and too good an opinion of Sir Sidney 
Smith. It would be very bad in him, after Sir John's 
hospitality to him. I know him incapable of such a 
thing, for I have known him a long time ; but still I won- 
der too in the same house it does not happen. By this 
time I was rather vexed, and said, Your Royal Highness 
and I think quite differently—Sir Sidney Smith comes and 
goes as he pleases to his room in our house. I really see 
little of him. He seems a very good-humoared, pleasant 
man, and I always think one may be upon very friendly 
terms with men who are friends of one's husbands, with- 
out being their humble servants. The Princess argued 
upon this for an hour, said, this is Miss Garth's argu- 
ment, but she was mistaken, and it was ridiculous. If 
ever a woman was upon friendly terms with any man, 
they were sure to become lovers. I said, I shall continue 
to think as Miss Garth did, and that it depended very 
much upon the lady. Upon the 29th of March, I left 
Montague House, and the Princess commanded me to 
be sent up to her bed-chamber. I went and found her in 
bed, and I took Mrs. Vansittart's note in my hand, an- 
nouncing the news of Peace. She desired me to sit down 
close to the bed, and then, taking my hand, she said, 
" You see, my dear friend, I have the most complaisant 
" husband in the world — I have no one to controul me — 
1 see whom I like,, I go where I like, I spend what I 






59 

« please, and His Royal Highness pays for all — Other 
cc English husbands plague their wives, but he never 
u plagues me at all, which is certainly being very polite 
" and complaisant, and I am better off than my sister, 
" who was heartily beat every day. How much happier 
"am I than the Duchess of York. She and the Duke 
" hate each other, and yet they will be two hypocrites, 
u and live together — that I would nsver do. — Now I'll 
" shew you a letter wherein the Prince of Wales gives 
f r me full leave to follow my own plans." She then put 
the letter into my hands, the particulars of which I have 
mentioned. When I had finished, I appeared affected, 
and she said, " You seem to think that a fine thing; now 
'* I see nothing in it ; but I dare to say that when my be- 
" loved had finished it, he fancied it one of the finest 
" pieces of penmanship in the world. I should have 
" been the man, and he the woman. I am a real 
" Bruinswick, and do not know what the sensation Fear 
t( is; but as to him, he lives in eternal warm water, and 
" delights in it, if he can but have his slippers under 
" any old Dowager's table, and sit there scribbling notes ; 
" that's his whole delight." She then told me every cir- 
cumstance relative to her marriage, and that she would 
be separated, and that she had invited the Chancellor 
very often lately, to try and accomplish it, but they were 
stupid, and told her it could not be done. It appeared 
to me that, at this time, Her Royal Highness's mind was 
bent upon the accomplishment of this purpose; and it 
would be found, I think, from Lord Eldon and the 
others, that she pressed this subject close upon them, 
whenever they were at Montague House; for she told 
me more than once she had. # Her Royal Highness, 
before she put the letter by, said, " I always keep this, 
w for it is ever necessary, I will go into the House of 

i »* The Chancellor may now, perhaps, be able to grant her request. 

N, B. The passage contained in this Note is, in the authenticated Copy 
transmitted to the Princess of Wales, placed in the Margin. 



60 

" Lords with it myself. The Prince of Wales desires me 
" in that letter, to choose my own plan of life, and 
" amuse myself as 1 like, and also when I lived in Carl- 
tf ton House, he often asked me why I did not select 
tf some particular gentleman for my friend, and was sur- 
" prised I did not." — She then added, " I urn not treated 
" at all as a Princess of Wales ought to he. As to the 
" friendship of the Duke of Gloucester's Family, I 
" understand that PrinGe William would like to marry 
" either my daughter, or me, if he could. I now 
" therefore am desirous of forming a society of my 
fe own choosing, and I beg you always to remember, 
lc all your life, that I shall always be happy to see you. 
" I think you very discreet, and the best woman in the 
tf world, and I beg you to consider the Tower always 
"as your own; there are offices, and you might almost 
" live there, and if Sir John is ever called away, do not 
" go home to your family ; it is not pleasant after people 
u have children, therefore always come to my Tower. 
" I hope to see you there very soon again. The Prince 
" has offered me sixty thousand if Til go and live at 
if Hanover, but I never will; this is the only country in 
" the world to live in." She then kissed me, and I took 
my leave. 

While I had been in the round Tower in Montague 
House, which only consists of two rooms and a closet on 
a floor, I had always my maid and child slept within my 
room, and Sir John was generally with me. He and all 
my friends having free permission to visit. Mr. Cole 
(the Page) slept over my room, and a watchman went 
round the Tower all night — Upon my return home, the 
same apparent friendship continued, and in one of Her 
Royal Highness' s evening visits she told me, she was come 
to have a long conversation with mc, that she had been 
in a great agitation, and I must guess what had happened 
to her. I guessed a great many things, but she said No, 
to them all, and then said I gave it up, for I had no idea 



6l 

what she could mean, and therefore might guess my 
whole life without success. " Well then, I must tell you/' 
said Her Royal Highness, " but I am sure you know all 
." the while. I thought you had completely found me 
" out, and therefore I came to you, for you looked droll 
" when I called for ale and fried onions and potatoes, 
" and when E said I eat tongue and chickens at my break- 
" fasts ; that I would sure as my life you suspected me; 
" tell me honestly did you not ?" I affected not to un- 
derstand the Princess at all, and did not really compre- 
hend her. She then said, "Well, I'll tell; I am with 
'* child, and the child came to life when I was breakfast- 
" ing with Lady Willoughby. The milk flowed up mto 
" my breast so fast, that it came through my muslin 
" gown, and I was obliged to pretend that I had spilt 
" something, and go up-stairs to wipe my gown with 
" a napkin, and got up-stairs into Lady Willoughby^ 
if room, and did very well, but it was an unlucky adven- 
" ture." I was indeed most sincerely concerned for her, 
conceiving it impossible but she must be ruined, and 1 
expressed my sorrow in the strongest terms, saying, what 
would she do ? she could never carry such an affair 
through, and I then said, 1 hoped she was mistaken. She 
said No, she was sure of it, and these sort of things only 
required a good courage, that she should manage very 
well; but though she told me she would not employ me 
in the business, for I was like all the English women, so 
nery nervous, and she had observed me so frightened a 
few days past, when a horse galloped near me, that she 
would not let me have any thing to do for the world. 
The Princess added, " You will be surprised to see how 
" well I manage it, and I am determined to suckle the 
a child myself." I expressed my great apprehensions, 
and asked her what she would do if the Prince of Wales 
seized her person, when she was a wet-nurse ? She said 
she would never surfer any one to touch her person. She 
laughed at my fears, and added, " You know nothing 



62 

" about these things ; if you had read Les Avantures 
" du Chevalier de Grammont, you would know better 
<f what famous tricks Princesses and their Ladies played 
" then, and you shall and must read the story of Cathe- 
" rine Pair and a Lady Douglas of those times ; have 
" you never heard of it?" She then related it, but as I ne- 
ver had heard of it, I looked upon it as her own invention 
to reconcile my mind lo these kind of things. After this we 
often met, and the Princess often alluded to her situation 
and to mine, and one day as we were sitting together upon 
the sofa, she put her hand upon her stomach, and said, 
laughing, u Well, here we sit like Mary and Elizabeth, 
" in the Bible." When she was bled, she used to press 
me always to be, and used to be quite angry that I would 
not, and whatever she thought good for herself, always 
recommended to me. Her Royal Highness now took 
every occasion to estrange me from Sir John, by laughing 
at him, and wondering how I could be content with him ; 
urged me constantly to keep m} r own room, and not to 
continue to sleep with him, and said, If 1 had any more 
children, she would have nothing more to say to me. 
Her design was evident, and easily seen through, and 
consequently averted. She naturally wished to keep us 
apart, lest in a moment of confidence, I should repeat 
what she had divulged, and if she estranged me from my 
husband, she kept me to herself. I took especial care 
therefore, that my regard for him should not be under- 
mined. I never told him her situation, and contrary to 
her wishes, Sir John and I remained upon the same happy 
terms we always had. 

It will scarcely be credited, (nevertheless it is strictly 
true, and those w r ho were present must avow it, or per- 
jure themselves) what liberty the Princess gave both to 
her thoughts and her tongue, in respect to every part of 
the Royal Family. It was disgusting to us, beyond the 
power of language to describe, and upon such occasions 
we always believed and hoped she could not be aware of 






63 

what she was talking about, otherwise common family 
affection, common sense, and common policy, would 
have kept her silent, She said before the two Fitzgeralds, 
Sir Sidney Smith, and ourselves, that when Mr. Adding- 
ton had his house given him, His Majesty did not know 
what he was about, and waved her hand round and round 
her head, laughing, and saying, " Certainly he did not; 
" but the Queen got twenty thousand, so that was all 
" very well." We were all at a loss, and no one said 
any thing. This was at my house one morning; the rest 
of the morning passed in abusing Mr. Addington (now 
Lord Sidmouth,) and her critiques upon him closed by 
saying, " It was not much wonder a Peace was not last- 
" ing, when it was made by the son of a quack doctor." 
Before Miss Hamond, one evening at my house, she said, 
u Prince William is going to Russia, and there is to be 
u a grand alliance with a Russian Princess, but it is not 
« very likely a Russian Princess will marry the grandson 
** of a washerwoman." Sir Sidney Smith, who was pre- 
sent, begged her pardon, asserted it was not so, and 
wished to stop her, but she contradicted him, and en- 
tered into all she knew of the private history of the Du- 
chess's mother, saying, " she was literally a common 
u washerwoman, and the Duchess need not to take so 
" much pains and not expose her skin to the open air, 
" when her mother had been in it all day long." When 
she was gone, Sir John was very much disgusted, and 
said, her conversation had been so low and ill-judged, 
and so much below her, that he was perfectly ashamed of 
her, and she disgraced her station. Sir Sidney Smith 
agreed, and confessed he was astonished, for it must be 
confessed she was not deserving of her station. After the 
Duke of Kent had been so kind as to come and take leave 
of her, before he last left England, upon the day I men- 
tioned, she delivered her critique upon His Royal High- 
ness, saying, " He had the manners of a Prince, but was 



04 

u a disagreeable man, and not to be trusted, and that His 
u Majesty had told him, ' Now, Sir, when you go to 
" Gibraltar, do not make such a trade of it as you did 
" when you went to Halifax' The Princess repeated, 
" Upon my honour it is true ; the King saigl, ' Do not 
" make such a trade of it/ She went on to say, u the 
u Prince at first ordered them all to keep away, but they 
" came now sometimes, however they were no loss, for 
" there is not a man among them all whom any one can 
" make their friend." As I was with the Princess one 
morning in her garden house, His Royal Highness the 
Duke of Cumberland waited upon her. As soon as he 
was gone she said, " He was a foolish boy, and had been 
" asking her a thousand foolish questions." She then 
told me every word of his secrets, which he had been tell- 
ing her, in particular, a long story of Miss Keppel, and 
that he said, the old woman left them together, and 
wanted to take him in, and therefore he had cut the con- 
nection. She said, she liked his countenance best, but 
she could trace a little family likeness to herself; but for 
all the rest they were very ill made, and had plumb-pud- 
ding faces, which she could not bear. His Royal High- 
ness the Duke of Cambridge was next ridiculed. She said 
" he looked exactly like a serjeant, and so vulgar with 
u his ears full of powder." This was her Royal High- 
ness's usual and favorite mode of amusing herself and her 
company. The conversation was always about men, 
praising the English men, reviling all English women, as 
being the ugliest creatures in the world, and the worst, 
and always engaged in some project or another, as the 
impulse of the moment might prompt, without regard to 
consequences or appearances. Whether she amused 
other people in the same way, I know not, but she chose 
to relate to me every private circumstance she knew rela- 
tive to every part of the Royal Family, and also every 
tbing relative to her own, with such strange anecdotes, 



65 

£nd circumstantial accounts of things that never are talked 
of, that [ again repeat, I hope I shall never hear again; 
and Irememher once in my lying~in-room, she gave such 
an account of Lacly Anne Wyndham's marriage, and all 
her husband said on the occasion, that Mrs. Fitzgerald 
sent her daughter out of the room, while Her Royal High- 
ness finished her story. Such was the person we found 
Her Royal Highness the Princess cf Wales, and as we 
continued to see her character and faults, Sir John and 
myself more and more, daily and hourly, regretted that 
the world could not see her as we did, and that His 
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales should have lost any 
popularity , when, from her own account (the only ac- 
count we ever had) she was the aggressor from the begin- 
ning, herself a/one, and T, as an humble individual, de- 
clare, that from the most heartfelt and unfeigned convic- 
tion, that I believe, if any other married woman had acted 
as Her Royal Highness had done, I never yet have known 
a man who could have endured it ; and her temper is so 
tyrannical, capricious, and furious, that no man on earth 
will ever bear it ; and, in private life, any woman who 
had thus played and sported with her husband's comfort 
and her husband's popularity, would have been turned 
out of her house, or left by herself in it, and would de- 
servedly have forfeited her place in society, J therefore 
again beg leave to repeat, from the conviction of my own 
unbiassed understanding, and the conviction of my own 
eyes, no human being could live with her, excepting her 
servants for their wages; and any poor unfortunate woman, 
like the Fitzgeralds, for their dinner ; and I trust and hope 
her real character will sometime or another be displayed, 
that the people of this country may not be imposed upon. 
The Princess was now sometimes kind and at others 
churlish, especially if [ would not fall into her plans of 
ridiculing Sir John. About this time, one day at table 





4 


»*!**** 




r*&'« 





66 

with her, she began abusing Lady Rumbold (whom she 
had invited to see her a few days before, to give her letters 
of recommendation if she went to Brunswick), and as the 
abuse was in the usual violent vulgar style, and I had never 
seen Lady Rumbold but that one morning when she was 
Her Royal Flighness's guest, and cared nothing about 
her, I did uot join in reviling her and Miss Rumbold. 
Sir SidrTey Smith was present, and as there appeared a 
great friendship between the Rumbokls and him, I 
thought it not civil to him to say any thing, and one al- 
ways conceives, in being quite silent, one must be safe 
from offending any party. 1 was, however, mistaken ; 
for, observing me silent, she looked at me in a dreadful 
passion, and said, " Why don't you speak, Lady Douglas, 
I know you think her ugly as well as us— a vulgar common 
milliner ; Lord Heavens ! that she was ; and her daughter 
looks just like a girl that walk up the street." I suppose 
she expected, by this thundering appeal, to force me to 
join in the abuse ; but it had a contrary effect upon me. 
I chose to judge entirely for myself, and I was determined 
I would not; therefore, when she had l^ed until she 
could go on no longer, I said I did not think her ugly \ 
it was a harsh terra. — I thought her manner very bad, and 
that she was very ill dressed : but, when young, I thought 
she must have been a pretty woman. This was past her 
power of enduring, which I really did not know, or I 
would have remained silent. She fixed her eyes furiously 
upon me, and bawled out, " Then you a liar, you're a 
liar, and the little child you're going to have will be a liar/' 
I pushed my plate from me, eat no more, and remained 
silent, and my first impulse was to push back my chair 
and quit the house, but the idea that 1 should break up 
the party from table, and make a confusion, and also my 
not being able to walk heme, and my carriage not being 
ordered until night, left me in my chair. The conversa- 
tion was changed ; at last, Sir Sidney said again, " Well, 



67 

these Ladies have had a severe trimming, they had better 
not have "come to Blackheath, and there sits poor Lady 
Douglas, looking as if she were going to be executed/ 
As I was very far advanced in my pregnancy,it agitated me 
greatly, and I remained aloof and very shy all the even- 
ing. When I afterwards wrote to Sir Sidney Smith for 
Sir John, upon some common occurrence, I said, I do 
not like the Princess of Wales's mode of treating her 
guests ; her calling me a liar was an unpardonable thing, 
and if she ever speaks upon the subject to you, pray tell 
her I did not like it, and that if I had been a man, I would 
have rather died than endured it; that it is a thing which 
never, by any chance, occurs to a Lady ; on a repetition 
of it I will give up her acquaintance. It seems Sir Sidney- 
Smith spoke to the Princess upon the subject ; for two 
days before I was confined, she made me a morning visit 
with the two Fitzgeralds, and, after having sat a short 
time; said, " I find you were very much affronted the 
other day at my house, when I called you a liar ; [ d- 
clare I did not mean it as an affront ; Lord Heavens ! in 
any other language it is considered a joke ; is it not Mrs. 
Fitzgerald?" meaning that in Germany it is a very good 
joke to call people liars (for Mrs. Fitzgerald does not 
know any language but German and English) ; Mrs. 
Fitzgerald absolutely said, Yes. They made me very ner- 
vous, and I burst into tears, and told the Princess I only- 
wished her to understand such a thing was never done, 
and was far from desiring her to apologize to me ; that I 
had now forgiven and forgotten it, though I confess, at 
the time, I was very much hurt, and very much wounded,; 
that as I never heard of its being thought a joke in any 
country, I was not the least prepared to receive it in that 
light ; for that, in this country, ladies never used the ex- 
pression, and men only to shew their greatest contempt ; 
that I never bore malice twelve hours in my life, and 
there was an end of the matter. The Fitzgeralds sat by, 






68 

Sometimes as audience, approving hy looks ; sometimes as 
orators, begging me not to cry, (after they had all made 
me), and praising Her Royal Highness as the most mag- 
nanimous, amiable, good, beautiful, and gracious Prin- 
cess in the world. In short, they tormented me till they 
made me quite hysterical, and the Princess began then to 
be frightened, and they all got up to look about the room 
for hartshorn, or something of that kind to give me — 
the Princess crying, " Give her something, give her some- 
thing ; she is very much shook, and her nerve.-* agitated ; 
she will be taken ill." They gave me some water, I be- 
lieve, and I did all I could to recover my spirits; but I felt 
in pain, and Sir John came in soon after, and as I knew it 
would hurry him if he saw me ill, I appeared as cheerful 
as could, and they ail went away, the Princess taking 
no notice to him. Her Royal Highness had always said, 
she would be at my lying in from the beginning to the 
end, and commanded me constantly to let her know, say- 
ing, " I have no fear about me, and I would as soon come 
over the Heath in the middle of the night as in the day ; 
I shall have a bottie of port-wine on a table to keep up 
your spirits, a tambourine, and I'll make sing." I was 
unwell all the night, after Her Royal Highness had been 
with me, and remained so all the next day ; and next morn- 
ing) by six o'clock, was so ill, that Doctor Mackie, of 
Lewisham, who was to attend me, was sent for. In the 
forenoon I begged Sir John to write a note to Montague 
House, where it so happened I was to have dined with the 
jjarty. He wrote that 1 had a head-ache, and begged 
leave to remain at home, and the Princess believed it, and 
went to town ; but upon her return, at five o'clock in the 
afternoon, she called before she went home to dress, to ask 
after me, and finding how it was, wanted to run up into the 
room, but Doctor Mackie said positively she should not 
come, and locked the door nearest him to keep her out. 
MissCholmondeley and Miss Fitzgerald were drove home. 



69 

&nd Her R.oyal Highness and Mrs. Fitzgerald stopped* 
Upon my giving a load shriek she flew in at the other: 
door, and came to me, doing every thing she possibly 
could to assist me, and held my eyes and head. The mo- 
ment she heard the child's voice she left me, Hew round to 
Doctor Mackie, pushed the nurse away, and received the 
child from Doctor Mackie, kissed it, and said no one 
should touch it until she had shewn it to me. Doctor 
Mackie was so confused and astonished, that, although 
( an old practitioner he left the room, without giving me 
any thing to recruit my strength and avert fainting, as is 
the custom, and the nurse gave me what she thought best 5 
by which omission, however, I was not subject to faint 
away, but it was certainly a new mode of proceeding 
where life is at stake, and shewed more curiosity than ten- 
derness for me. Before my little girl was brought to me, 
I observed her Royal Highness stood holding it, that 
Mrs. Fitzgerald, the Nurse, and herself, were all intent, 
and speaking together, as if there was something peculiar 
in its appearance ; the circumstance alarmed me, fearing 
it was born v/ith some defect, and I asked eagerly to see 
it* and if all was right. The Princess upon this brought it 
to me, and said it was a remarkable large fine child, and 
they were only looking at a mark it had upon its left 
breast, certainly a very large one, and a little on its eyes, 
but it would go off. I recollected that, although I never, 
when in a pregnant state, was subject to whims, longing, 
as thinking it very troublesome and foolish, yet I felt 
obliged, in this instance, to believe the old-received opi- 
nion to be correct ; for it happened, that during my visit 
at Montague House in March, I was one Sunday morn- 
ing very much incommoded by pains in my chest and sto- 
mach, and Her Royal Highness made Mrs. Sander give 
me some warm peppermint-water; there was raspberry- 
ice in the desert the same day, and I had just began to eat 
mine, when the Princess looked at me, and said, My dear 



70 

Lady Douglas, you have forgotten the pain you were in 
this morning <; and, turning to her page, ordered him to 
takeaway my plate. 

(Signed; CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS. 

JOHN DOUGLAS. 
In the presence of me, 
(Signed) 
AUGUSTUS FREDERICK, 

Dec. 3, 1805. 
A true Copy, 

(Signed) B. Bloomfield, 



< Mr. Cole, the page, removed, and I can never 

describe mv disappointment ; I was almost inclined to re- 
monstrate, although there was a large party of strangers, 
and I did express a desire to retain it, but the Princess 
would not allow of it : and as she had appointed herself to 
the sole management of me, 1 was obliged to be quiet ; 
My uneasiness, however became extreme, and forgetting 
every thing but the ice in question, 1 asked a Mr. Hamer, 
who sat next to me, to be so good as to ask for some ice, 
and, by dint of asking him to do so, I at length induced 
him, and at last he asked Lady Townshend for some more 
ice. I immediately took my spoon, and stooping a little, 
so that the flowers upon the plateau concealed me in part 
from the Princess, eat all Mr. Harness ice, while he 
looked on laughing, and put his plate a little nearer to 
me, that it might not look so odd. The following day I 
eat eight glasses of raspberry-ice at once, and was very well 
after it ; and from that time sought it every where, and 
eat of it voraciously; and I cannot help attributing the 
marks of my little girl to the circumstance. Her Royal 
Highness then kissed me, begged me to send for her 
whenever I liked, and she would come ; desired I might 
have plenty of flannel about me, of which she had sent 



71 

me some by Mrs. Fitzgerald, and then went home to 
dinner. I know not what she said or did among her party 
at home, but Miss Cholmondeley often said she shoulci 
never forget the Princess on that day. All the month of 
August the Princess visited me daily ; in one of these 
visits, after she had sent Mrs. Fitzgerald away, she drew 
her chair close to the bed, and said, IC 1 am delighted to 
see how well and easily you have got through this affair ; 
I, who am not the least nervous, shall make nothing at all 
of it. When you hear of my having taken children in 
baskets from poor people, take no notice: that is the way 
I mean to manage : I shall take any that offer, and the 
one I have will be presented in the same way, which, as I 
have taken others, will never be thought any thing about." 
I asked her, how she would ever get it out of the house ? 
but she said, Oh, very easily. I said it was a perilous bu- 
siness ; I would go abroad, if I were her: but she laughed 
at my fears, and said she had no doubt but of managing 
it all very well I was very glad she did not ask me to 
assist her, for I was determined in my own mind never to 
do so, and she never did make any request of me, for 
which I was very thankful. I put the question to her, 
Who she would get to deliver her? but she did dot answer 
for a minute, and then said, I shall get a person over ; I'll 
manage it, but never ask me about it ; Sander was a good 
creature, and being immediately about her person and 
sleeping near her room, must be told; but MissGhaunt 
must be sent to Germany, and the third maid, a voung 
girl, kept out of the way as well as they could. I sug- 
gested, I was afraid her appearance at St. James's could 
not fail to be observed, and she would have to encounter 
all the Royal Family. Her reply was, That she knew 
how to manage her dress, and by continually increasing 
large cushions behind, no one would observe, and fortu- 
nately the Birth-days were over, until she should have got 
rid of her appearance. In this manner passed all the time 



72 

of my confinement, at the end of which she sent Mrs. 
Fitzgerald to attend me to Church, and when I went to 
pay my duty to Her Royal Highness, after I went abroad 
again, she told me, whenever I was quite stout, she would 
have the child christened, that she meant to stand in per- 
son, and I must find another godmother; Sir Sidney 
Smith would be the godfather. I named the Duchess of 
Atholl, as a very amiable woman, of suitable rank, and 
said, that as there had been a long friendship betwixt Sir 
John's family and the Atholl family, I knew it would be 
very agreeable to him. Finding they were gone to Scot^ 
land, we wrote to ask her Grace ; and she wrote word she 
would stand godmother with great pleasure, and enclosed 
ten guineas for the nurse. The Princess invited Sir Sidney 
Smith, and Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Smith, and Baron Her- 
bert, and Sir John Douglas, to dine with her. Miss 
Cholmondeley and the two Fitzgeralds were with Her 
Royal Highness, and in the evening they all came; I 
staid at home to receive her. The Clergyman from 
Lewisham christened the child ; the Princess named it 
Caroline Sidney. As soon as he was gone (which was 
shortly after the ceremony was over), the Princess sat 
down upon the carpet — a thing she was very fond of 
doing, in preference to sitting upon the chairs, saying, it 
was the pleasantest lively affair altogether she had ever 
known. She chose to sit upon the carpet the whole even- 
ing, while we all sat upon the chairs. Her Royal Highr 
ness was dressed in the lace dress which, I think, she 
wore at Frogmore fete — pearl necklace, bracelets, and 
armbands, a pearl bandeau round her head, and a long 
lace veil. When supper was announced, her Royal High- 
ness went in and took the head of the table, and eat an. 
amazing supper of chicken and potted lamprey, which 
she would have served to her on the same plate, and eat 
them together. After supper she called the at^enikflto of 
the party to my good looks, and saying, I w'a's%s .lively 



73 

and espiegle as ever j said, that I had such sharp eyes, I 
found her out in every thing, adding, Oh ! she found me 
out one day in such a thing when 1 was at luncheon, and 
gave me a look which was so expressive, that I was sure 
she knew. This speech, which she, between herself and 
me, was algebra to the party. I did not know what to do, 
but I saw the secret cost her dear to keep, and she was 
ready to betray it to any one she met, by the strange things 
she said and did : I laughed and said, if my eyes have 
been too observing I am sorry, I never intended them to 
be ; I cannot be quite so polite as to say, " if my sight 
offends 1 will put it out," because I think with Sheridan, 
that the prejudice is strongly in favour of two ; but depend 
upon it, at all future luncheons I will do nothing but eat. 
She was in great spirits, staid until two o'clock in the 
morning, and then, attended by Miss Cholmondeley and 
the Fitzgeralds, went home. Her Royal Highness's civi- 
lities continued; she desired me constantly to bring my 
children to Montague House, and also the infant; and 
when I wou Id have retired to suckle it, she would not suffer 
me, but commanded me to do it in the drawing-room 
where she was ; and she came with her ladies visiting me 
both mornings and evenings, and nursing little Caroline 
for hours together. I saw now the Princess had told Mrs. 
Sander, who, 1 believe, was a very quiet good kind of wo- 
man, and her countenance was full of concern and anxiety. 
She appeared desirous of speaking to me, and was un- 
usually obsequious ; but the Princess always watched us 
both close; if Sander came into a room, and I went to- 
wards her, the Princess came close, or sent one or another 
away, so that I could never speak :o her. The Princess 
had now quarrelled with Sir Sidney Smith, to whom she 
had been so partial, and to every part of whose family she 
had been so kind, telling us constantly that she liked 
them all, because old Mr. Smith had save*! the Duke of 



74 

Brunswick's life. As Sir John was Sir Sidney's friend, 
she therefore was shy of us all, and we saw little of her. - 
but on the 30th of October I went to call upon her before 
I left Blackheath, and met her Royal Highness just re- 
turned from church, walking before her own house with 
Mrs. Fitzgerald and her daughter, dressed in a long Spa- 
nish velvet cloak and an enormous muff, but which toge- 
ther could not conceal the state she was in, for I saw di- 
rectly she was very near her time, and think I must have 
seen it if I had not known her situation. She appeared 
morose, and talked a little, but did not ask to go in, and 
after taking a few turns returned home. In about a fort- 
night we received a note, the Princess requesting neither 
Sir John or I to go to Montague House, as her servants 
were afraid some of the children she had taken had the 
measles, and if any infection remained about the house, 
we might carry it to our child. We wrote a note expres- 
sive of our thanks for her obliging precautions, and that 
we would not go to Montague House, until we had the 
honor of receiving Her Royal Highness's commands. The 
Princes never sent for us, and when I left my card before 
I went to pass Christmas in Gloucestershire. I was not 
admitted, so that I never saw her after the 30th of Octo- 
ber ; but I heard the report of her having adopted an in- 
fant, and Miss Fitzgerald told it me as she rode past my 
house, but would not come in, for fear she should bring 
the measles. Upon my return to Blackheath in January, 
I called to pay my duty. I found her packing a small 
black box, and an infant sleeping on the sofa, with a 
piece of scarlet cloth thrown over it. She appeared con- 
fused, and hesitated whether she should be rude or kind, 
but recovering herself, chose- to be the latter; said, she 
was happy to see me, and then taking me by the hand led 
me to the sofa, and uncovering the child, said, Here is 
the little boy, I had btm two days after I saw you last ; is 
not it a nice little child ? the upper part of bis face is very 



75 

fine. She was going to have said more, when Mrs. Fitz 
gerald opened the door and came in. The Princess con- 
sulted what I had better have, what would be good for 
me. I declined any thing, but she insisted upon it I 
should have some soup, and said, my dear Fitzgerald, pray 
go out and order some nice brown soup to be brought 
here for Lady Douglas. I saw from this the Princess 
wished to have spoken to me more fully, and Mrs. Fitz- 
gerald saw it likewise, for instead of obeying, she rung 
the bell for the soup, and then sat down to tell me the 
whole fable of the child having been brought by a poor 
woman from Deptford, whose husband had left her, that 
Mr. Stikeman the Page, had the honour of bringing it in, 
that it vvas a poor little ill-looking thing when first brought, 
but now, with such great care, was growing very pretty, 
and that as Her Royal Highness was so good, and had 
taken the twins (whose father would not let them remain) 
and had taken this, all the poor people would be bringing 
children. The Princess now took the child up, and I 
was entertained the whole morning by seeing it fed, and 
every service of every kind performed for it by Her Royal 
Highness the Princess of Wales. Mrs. Fitzgerald aired the 
napkins, and the Princess put them on; and from this 
time the drawing-rooms at Montague House, were lite- 
rally in the stile of a common nursery. The tables were 
covered with spoons, plates, feeding-boats, and clothes, 
round the fire ; napkins were hung to air, and the marble 
hearths were strewed with napkins which were taken from 
the child ; for, very extraordinary to relate, this was a 
part of the ceremony Her Royal Highness was particu- 
larly tenacious of always performing herself let the com- 
pany be who they might. At first the child slept with 
her she told me, but it made her nervous, and therefore 
a nurse was hired to assist in taking charge of it, and for 
him to sleep with. The Princess said one dav to me as 
she was nursing him, he had a little milk for two or three 



76 

days, but it did not do, so we bring bim up by hand with 
all kind of nourish. ng things, and you see how well he 
thrives ; so that i really always supposed she nad attempt- 
ed to suckle it. Another time she shewed me his hand, 
which has a pink mark upon it, and said, it was very sin- 
gular both our childrtn should be marked, and she 
thought her child's came from her having some wine 
thrown on her hand, for she did not look much at little 
Caroline's mark. The Princess now adopted a new mode 
of inviting us to see her. She would invite either Sir 
John or I, but never both together as formerly. I conclu- 
ded from this, that as she found it so difficult to keep 
even her ozvn secret, she cuuld ill imagine I had been able 
to keep hers, and therefore under the impression that by 
that time 1 must have told Sir John, did not like to meet 
both our eyes ; and if she saw Sir John without me, could 
better judge i y his looks and manner whether I had di- 
vulged or not. I conclude she was at length satisfied that 
I had not ; for we were one morning both invited again id 
the former manner, to a breakfast, and as it was a very 
curiously arranged party, I will put down the names, for 
to the person who is to peruse this detail, it will confirm 
the idea that Her Royal Highness cannot always know 
correctly what she is about. When we entered, the Prin- 
cess was sitting upon the sofa, elegantly dressed in a white 
and silver drapery, which covered her head and fell all 
over her person, and she had her little boy upon her 
knee elegantly dressed likewise. The guests were, Her 
Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Wales, with Miss 
Hunt, her Governess, Captain Manby, of the Navy, Mr. 
Spencer Smith, the Fitzgeralds, and ourselves. She got 
up and nursed the child, and carrying it to Sir John, said, 
" Here, Sir John, this is the Deptford boy, I suppose 
" you have heard I have taken a little child." Sir John 
©nly said, Yes, he had, and it seemed a fine baby. She 
seemed pleased and satisfied that I had not told him, and 



77 

then sat clown to table, putting a chair for Princess 
Charlotte on her right hand, taking me by the hand and 
putting me on her left hand, told Captain Manby to sit at 
the top, and Mr. Spencer Smith at the bottom, and Sir 
John and the Fitzgeralds faced us. Princess Charlotte 
had a plain dinner prepared for her in another room, ac- 
cording to custom, and came in when our desert was 
placed, when we all sat down again as we were sitting, 
except Miss Hunt, who was never ordered to sit, but 
stood a few yards from Princess Charlotte. .About five 
o'clock Her Royal Highness rose from table, the little 
boy was brought in again, Princess Charlotte played with 
it, and the Princess of Wales wished all of us a good 
morning, and we broke up, totally at a loss to conceive 
what amusement it could be to collect us together. This 
breakfast was a kind ofjiwile. We had very little inter- 
course. Her Royal Highness would walk past our house, 
for the ^xj^ress purpose of shewing she did not mean to 
come in, and when we did see her, she always abused Sir 
Sidney Smith. Ofien said, she wondered I liked to live 
at such a dull place as Black heath, and in short gave us 
hints we could not misunderstand, that she wanted us 
away. At this time Sir John received a letter from his 
division, expressive of the General's wish that he would 
go to Plymouth, and therefore (without an Admiralty 
Order) he determined to go to emancipate ourselves from 
the Princess of Wales, and as soon as we could dispose of 
the furniture, I followed him, leaving the house empty, 
which was ours three months after I quitted it. The day 
Sir John was to set off', the Princess walked to our house, 
and though his trunks were in the room, and he was oc- 
cupied, would have him sit down and talk to her, over- 
powering him and myself now with kindness, and said, 
she could eat something. She did so, staid four hours in 
the house, and at parting, took Sir John by both hands, 
wished him every good wish, and begged him always to 



78 

recollect how happy she should be to see him again, and 
that she would be very kind to me in his absence ; however, 
after he was gone, she never came near me, or offered 
me any kind of civility whatsoever. When I was upon 
the eve of departure, called upon her and took her god- 
daughter and my other little girl with me. She was al- 
most uncivil, and paid little or no attention if I spoke. I 
said the children were with me, but she did not answer, 
and after spending four or five hours very unpleasantly, 
suffering all the unpleasant feeling of being where I had 
been courted and idolized, I begged permission at last to 
go away. When I went out, to my surprize, I found the 
children had been kept in the passage near the front door, 
with the door open to Blackheath, in a December day, 
with four opposite doors opened and shut upon them, in- 
stead of being taken to the housekeeper's room, as they 
always had been. My maid had at length begged the 
footman to go to a fire, as the children cried dreadfully 
and were very cold. I understand the man was a foot- 
man, of the name ofGaskin, I think, and his answer was, 
if the children are cold, you can put them back into the 
carriage and warm them. I took them home immedi- 
ately, and was inclined to return and ask why they had 
been thus all of a sudden treated with this brutality and 
impertinence, and which was doubly cruel in Sir John's 
absence : but I deferred going until I meant to take my 
final leave, which I did on the following Sunday. Doctor 
Burnaby was standing in the hall with every thing pre- 
pared for the Princess to receive the sacrament. I was 
ushered through notwithstanding, and the footmen 
seemed to go to and fro as much at their ease, as if no 
such thing was preparing. She was standing in the draw- 
ing-room, and received me with Mrs. Lisle and Mrs 
-Fitzgerald. 1 said I should have ^e: n gone before, had 
it been in my power, and in compliance wit! it r com- 
mands, had come to take my leave. She d ; ask me 



79 

to sit down, but said — God bless you ; good bye. "I then 
said, I was much concerned I had brought my little girls 
a few days past, and that I should never have done so, 
but from her Royal Highness's repeated desire. She said, 
she was sorry ; and asked, who used them so. I told her, 
one of her livery servants, and Sir John would not like to 
hear of it. Her Royal Highness said, stop a moment; 
flew past me through the h;dl where Doctor Burnaby 
stood waiting for her, up to her own room, and returned 
with a white-paper box, pushing it into my hand — 
God bless you, my dear Lady Douglas, I said, I wished 
to decline taking any thing, that my object in coming 
there was to offer her my duty, and tell her how ill my 
children has been used. I could not conceive how any 
footman could use the freedom of treating Sir John's 
children so, unless he had been desired. She ©un- 
answered, " Oh ! no, indeed ; good bye." I attempted 
to put the box into her hands, saying, I had rather not 
have it ; but she drooped her hands and turned away. I 
therefore wished Mrs. Lisle and Miss Fitzgerald good 
morning, and went away. Doctor Burnaby spoke to me 
as I passed him, and, looking back, I saw her Roy a! 
Highness's head ; she was lookiug out after me, to see if 
she had fairly got rid of me, and laughing immoderately 
at Dr. Burnaby in his gown, I quitted her house, re- 
solved never to re-enter it but for forms sake, and wrote 
her word, that as I had long been treated rudely, and my 
children, whom she courted to her house, were now in- 
sulted there, I felt a dislike to accepting a present thrown 
at me, as it were, under such unpleasant circumstances ; 
that I had not untied the box, and requested she would; 
permit me to return it ; and that as L was an English Gen- 
tlewoman, and defied her to say she had ever seen a single 
impropriety in my conduct, 1 would never suffer myself 
to be ill used without a clear explanation. The Princess 
wrote back a most haughty imperious reply, desiring me to 



80 

keep the box, stiled herself Princess of Wales in almost 
every line, and insulted me to such a degree, that I re- 
turned an answer insisting upon her explaining herself. 
This she returned me unopened, saying, she would not 
open my second letter, and had therefore sent it to me to 
put in the fire, and that she was ready to put the matter 
in oblivion, as she desired me to do, wished me and my 
dear little children well, and should at all times be glad to 
see her former neighbour. I did as she desired, and went 
avvav at Christmas without ever seeing or hearing more of 
her Royal Highness, and found in the paper box a gold 
necklace, with a medallion suspended from it of a mock. 

Thus ended my intercourse, for the present, with the 
Princess of Wales, and the year 1803. 

When we resided in Devonshire, seeing by the papers 
that her Royal Highness was ill, we sent a note of en- 
quiry to the lady in waiting, which was answered very po- 
litely, and even in a friendly manner by her Royal High- 
ness's orders. Upon the arrival of the Duke of Sussex 
from abroad, Sir John returned to town to attend him, and 
when we drove to Blackheath to see our friends, I left my 
card for her Royal Highness, who was visiting Mr Can- 
ning ; the moment she returned home she commanded 
Mrs. Vernon to send me word never to repeat my visits 
to Blackheath. I gave Sir John the note, and must con- 
fess, accustomed as I had been to her haughty overbearing 
caprice, yet this exceeded my belief of what she was ca- 
pable of, being so inconsistent with her two last letters; 
but the fact was, she thought we were gone above £00 
miles from her, and should be there for many } r ears, and 
she never calculated upon the return of his Royal High- 
ness the Duke of Sussex, having very often told me his 
Royal Highness would never live in England, in his Ma- 
jesty's life-time ; that she vvas certain of that, and had 
reasons for knowing it; and Sir John would never have 
bira here. I suppose she had taken this into her head, be- 



cause she wished it ; and, therefore, the return of his Royal 
Highness was a mortal death-blow to all her hopes on 
this score ; and when she found that his Royal Highness 
was not only- returned, but that Sir John was in at- 
tendance, and that his Royal Highness was in Carlton 
House, where Sir John might see, and have the honour 
of being made known to the Prince of Wales, her fear and 
rage got the better of every prudent consideration, and she 
commanded Mrs. Vernon to dismiss me as I have men- 
tioned. Had the Princess of Wales written to me herself, 
and told me, in a civil manner, that she would thank me 
to keep away, \ should have acquainted her, that I wished 
and desired to do so, and had only called for the sake of 
appearances, and there the matter would have ended ; un- 
less I had ever been called upon (as I am now) by His Ma- 
jesty, or the Heir Apparent. In that case, as in this, I 
should have made ;it my sacred duty to have answered, as 
upon my oath ; but the circumstance of being driven out 
of her house by the hands of the lady in waiting, as if I 
had deserved it, and as if I were a culprit, was wounding 
one with a poisoned arrow, which left the wound to fester 
after it had torn and stabbed me ; it was a refinement in 
insult, for the Princess had always been in the habit of 
writing to me herself, and had commanded me never to 
hold intercourse with her through her ladies, but always 
directly to herself; and so particular were her directions 
and permission upon this head, that she told me never to 
put my letters under cover, but always direct them to her- 
self. I felt so miserable, that Mrs. Vernon, to wh<.m I 
was known, and for whom Sir John and mystlf had an 
esteem, should think ill of me, and I therefore wrote to 
the Princess, saying, '* From the moment she judged 
proper to come into my family, I had always conducted 
myself towards her Royal Highness with the respect her 
high station demanded; and that when she forced her 



secrets upon me, I had (whatsoever my sentiments were) 
kept them most honourably for her, never yet having even 
told Sir John, although I gave him my full confidence in 
all other things ; nor had I even, under my present aggra- 
vation, imparted it, or meant ; — that after such generous 
conduct on my part, I was at a loss to conceive what she 
proposed to herself by persecuting me ; that I was afflicted 
at being so placed in the opinion of a good woman, like 
Mrs. Vernon, and who was free to say what she pleased 
upon the subject every where* ; that it was half as bad to be 
thought ill of as to deserve it ; and that I would wait upon 
Mrs. Vernon, and detail to her a circumstantial account of 
every thing which had occurred since I had known her 
Royal Highness ; and I would acquaint my husband and 
family with the same, and leave them, and the circle of 
my friends, to judge betwixt her Royal Highness and 
myself; that I would not lie wider an imputation of hav- 
ing done wrong; and I took my leave of her Royal 
Highness for ever, only first regretting 1 had ever known 
her, and thankful to be emancipated from Montague 
House, and that she owed it to me to have, at least, dis- 
missed me in a civil manner, by her own hands" This 
letter her Royal Highness returned unopened ; but, from 
its appearance, I had strong reason to believe she had 
read it. I was resolved, however, if she had not, she 
should be taught better, as she might not treat any other 
person so ill as she had me, and my mind was bent upon 
speaking to Mrs. Vernon ; I was nearly certain, if I wrote 
to Mrs. Vernon, the Princess , would make her send my 
letter back, and therefore I wrote Mrs. Fitzgerald nearly 
a copy of what I sent her Royal Highness, and called 
upon her, as she had been always present, to say, if she 
ever saw any thing in my behaviour to justify any rude- 
ness towards me : that I was precisely what the Princess 
found me, when the Princess walked up to her knees in 
snow to seek my acquaintance, and precisely the same in- 



8.3 

dividual whom she had thought worthy of the strongest 
proofs of her friendship, and whose lying-in she had at- 
tended in so particular a manner, and had thought worthy 
of shedding tears over ; that her Royal Highness had 
thought proper to confide in me a secret, of very serious 
importance to herself; and I would not, after acting in 
the most honourable manner to her, be dismissed by a 
lady in waiting ; and I meant to be at Montague House, 
and have a satisfactory conversation with Mrs. Vernon; 
and therefore she would be so good as acquaint her Royal 
Highness with the contents of my letter, or lay it before 
her Royal Highness. Mrs. Fitzgerald sent back a con- 
fused note, saying, she could not shew the Princess my 
letter, unless she was called upon ; and when she opened 
it her disappointment was great, for she expected to have 
found respectful inquiries after her Royal Highnesses 
finger (which was hurt when she went to see Mr. Canning), 
and that I might make my mind easy, as ladies in waiting 
never repeated any thing; and she was astonished I had 
thrown out such a hint. A day or two after, a note was 
sent to Sir John, as if nothing had happened, requesting 
him to go to Montague House. The servant who brought 
it drove Mrs. Vernon from Blackheath home to her own 
house in town, and I have no doubt it will be found (if 
inquiry is made) that Mrs. Vernon was put prematurely 
out of her waiting, lest I should explain with her. Sir 
John obeyed her Royal Highness's summons, and she 
received him in the most gracious pleasant manner, tak- 
ing as much pains to please and flatter him now as she had 
formerly done by me, and began a conversation with him 
relative to a General Innes, of the Marines, whom the 
Admiralty thought proper, with many others, to put upon 
the retired list; she exprest an ardent desire to get that 
officer reinstated, and consulted Sir John, as belonging to 
the same corps, how she could accomplish such an under- 
taking. Sir John listened to her attentively, and made 



84 

her short and very polite answers, acquainting her n« 
such thing was ever done. She then said she must speak 
to Lord JVlelville about it, as it was a hard case. The lun- 
cheon was then announced, and she ordered Sir John to 
attend herself and the ladies. Sir John found Mrs. Ver- 
non was sent off, and a lady was there whom he did not 
know, but thought was Lady Carnarvon. When they 
were all seated Sir John remained on his legs, and she 
looked anxiously at him, and said, " My dear Sir John, 
sit down and eat." He bowed, with distant respect, and 
said, he could not eat ; that he was desirous of returning to 
town ; and if her Royal Highness had no further business 
with him, he would beg leave to go. The Princess looked 
quite disconcerted, and said, What not eat any thing, not 
sit down; pray take a glass of wine then. He bowed 
again as before, and repeated that he could neither eat 
nor drink. Well then, she said, " Come again soon, my 
dear Sir John ; always glad to see you." Sir John made 
no reply, bowed, and left the room. I now received, by 
the twopenny post, a long anonymous letter, written by this 
restless mischievous person, the Princess of Wales, in 
which, in language which any one who had ever heard 
her speak, would have known to be hers, she called me all 
kind of names, impudent, silly , wretched, ungrateful, and 
illiteral (meaning illiterate), she tells me to take that, and 
it will mend my ill temper, &c. &c. &c. and says, she is a 
person high in this government, and has often an oppor- 
tunity of * freely with His Majesty, and she thinks my 
conduct authorizes her to tell him off, and that she is my 
only^ true and integer friend. Such is the spirit of this fo- 
reigner, which would have disgraced a house-maid to,have 
written, and it encloses a fabricated anonymous letter, which 
she pretends to have received, and upon which she built 
her doubts and disapprobation of me as it advises her not 
to-trust me, for that I am indiscreet, and tell every body 
that the child she took from Deptford, was her own, 
» So in the authenticated copy ; some word «eems omitted* 



85 

The whole construction of both these epistles, from be- 
ginning to end, are evidently that of a foreigner, and a 
very ignorant one, and the vulgarity of it is altogether 
quite shocking. In one part she exclaims that she did 
not think I should have had the impudence to come on her 
door again, and tells me 'tis for my being indiscreet, and 
not having allowed her to call me a liar, that she treats me 
thus, and that I would do well to remember the story of 
Henry the Eighth's Queen, and Lady Douglas, I was in- 
stantly satisfied it was from her Royal Highness the Prin- 
cess of Wales, and that Mrs. Fitzgerald had shewn her 
my letter, and this was her answer to it. I immediately 
carried it to Sir John Douglas, who said he was sure it 
came from the Princess, and he shewed it to Sir Sidney 
Smith, who said, every word and expression in it were 
those which the Princess of Wales constantly used. Sir 
John desired me now to give him a full explanation of 
what her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales had con* 
fided to me, and whether I had ever mentioned it. I 
gave him my solemn word of honour it had never passed 
my lips, and I was only now going to utter it at his posi- 
tive desire. That luer Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales told me she was with child, and that it came to 
life at Lady Willoughby's, that if she was discovered, 1 she 
would give the Prince of Wales the credit, for she slept 
at Carlton House twice the year she was pregnant; that 
she often spoke of her situation, compared herself and 
me to Mary and Elizabeth, and told me when she shewed 
me the child, that it was the little boy she had two days 
after I last saw her, that was the 30th of October; there- 
fore her son was born upon the 1st of November, and I 
take a retrospect view of things after I knew the day of 
his birth, and found her Royal Highness must have gone 
down stairs and dined with all the Chancellors about the 
fourth day after she was delivered, with the intention, if 
discovered, of having them all to say they dined with her 



86 

in perfect health so early in November, that it could not 
be. Sir John recollected all her whims, and went over 
her whole conduct, and he firmly believes her to be the 
mother of the reputed Deptford child. I then acquainted 
him of the pains she had taken to estrange my mind and 
affections from him, and he saw her pursuit of now chang- 
ing sides, and endeavouring to estrange him from me, 
lest if we lived in a happy state of confidence, 1 might 
make known her situation to him ; and we agreed, that as 
we had no means of communicating at present with His 
Majesty, or the Heir Apparent, we must wait patiently 
until called upon to bring forward her conduct, as there 
seemed little doubt we should one day be. Finding that 
Sir John Douglas did not choose to visit where his wife 
was discarded and hurt in the estimation of her acquain- 
tance, her fury became so unbounded, that she sought 
what she could do most atrocious, wicked, and inhuman, 
she reached her it would seem, and the result 

was, she made two drawings with a pen and ink, and 
sent them to us by the twopenny post, representing me 
as having disgraced myself with his old friend Sir Sidney 
Smith. They are of the most indecent nature, drawn 
with her own hand, and words upon them in her own 
hand-writing. Sir John, Sir Sidney, and myself, can all 
swear point blank without a moment's hesitation ; and if 
her Royal Highness is a subject, and amenable to the laws 
of this country (and I conceive her to be so) she ought to 
be tried and judged by those laws for doing thus, to throw 
firebrands into the bosom of a quiet family. My hus- 
band, with that cool good sense which has ever marked 
his character, and with a belief in my innocence, which 
nothing but facts can stagger (for it is founded upon my 
having be?n faithful to him nine years before we were 
married, and seven years since,) as well as his long ac- 
quaintance with Sir Sidney Smith's character and disposi- 
tion, and having seen the Princess of Wales's loose aud 



87 

vicious character, put the letters in his pocket, and went 
instantly to Sir Sidney Smith. Sir Sidney was as much 
astonished as we had been. Sir John then told him, he 
put the question to him, and expected an answer such as 
an officer and gentleman ought to give to his friend : Sir 
Sidney Smith gave Sir John his hand, as his old friend 
and companion, and assured him in the most solemn 
manner, as an officer and gentleman, that the whole was 
the most audacious and wicked calumny ; and he would 
swear to its being the hand-writing of the Princess of 
Wales ; and that he believed Lady Douglas to be the same 
virtuous domestic woman he thought her, when Sir John 
first made him known to her. Sir Sidney added, " I 
never said a word" to your wife, but what you might have 
heard ; and had I been so base as to attempt any thing of 
the kind under your roof, I should deserve for you to shoot 
me like a mad dog. I am ready to go with Lady Douglas 
and yourself, and let us ask her what she means by it ; 
confront her." Accordingly, Sir John wrote a note to the 
lady in waiting, which was to this effect : " Sir John 
and Lady Douglas, and Sir Sidney Smith, present 
their compliments to the lady in waiting, and request she 
will have the goodness to say to her Koyal Highness the 
Princess of Wales, that they are desirous of having an au- 
dience of Her Royal Highness immediately." We re- 
ceived no answer to this note ; but, in a few days, an 
answer was sent to Sir Sidney Smith, stating, that her 
Royal Highness the Princess of Wales was much indis- 
posed, and could not see any one at present. This was di- 
rected to Sir Sidney Smith, at our house, although he 
did not live there. This was an acknowledgment of her 
guilt : she could not face us; it was satisfactory to us all, 
for it said — I am the Author, let me off; but to make 
one's satisfaction upon this the more perfect, and to warn 
her of the danger she runs of discovery, when she did such 



88 

flagrant things, I wrote the under- written note, and put it 
into the Post Office, directed to herself. 

n Madam, 

u I received your former anonymous letter safe ; also 
" your two last, with drawings. 

" I am, Madam, 

u Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) " CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS." 

It appears evident that her Royal Highness received 
this safe, and felt how she had committed herself, for, in- 
stead of returning it in the old style, she sent for his Royal 
Highness the Duke of Kent, and requested him to send 
for Sir Sidney, and by the post Sir Sidney received an ano- 
nymous letter, saying, the writer of that wished for no civil 
dissentions, and that there seldom was a difference, where, 
if the parties wished it, they could not arrange matters. 
Sir Sidney Smith brought this curious letter to shew Sir 
John, and we were all satisfied it was from Her Royal 
Highness, who, thinking Sir Sidney and Sir John might, 
by this time, be cutting each other's throats, sent very gra- 
ciously to stop them ; in short, she called them civil dis- 
se?itions. His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, being 
employed to negotiate, sent for Sidney Smith, and ac- 
quainted him, that he was desired by her Royal High- 
ness to say, that she would see Sir Sidney Smith in the 
course of a few days, provided, when he came to her, he 
avoided all disagreeable discussions whatsoever. His 
Royal Highness the Duke of Kent then sought from Sir 
Sidney an explanation of the matter; Sir Sidney Smith 
then gave the Duke of Kent a full detail of circumstances, 
and ended by saying, " We all could, and would, swear 
the drawings and words contained in those covers, were 
written by the Princess of Wales ; for, as if she were fully 






89 

to convict herself, she had sealed one of the covers with 
the identical seal she had used upon the cover, when she 
summoned Sir John to luncheon at Montague House. 
His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, finding what a 
scrape she had entangled herself in, exclaimed " Abomi- 
nable ! foolish ! to be sure ; but Sir Sidney Smith, as this 
matter, if it makes a noise, may distress His Majesty, and 
be injurious to his health, I wish Sir John and Lady 
Douglas would (at least for the present) try to forget it ; 
and if my making them a visit would be agreeable, and 
soothe their minds, I will go with all my heart, though I 
am not yet acquainted with them, and I will speak fully 
to the Princess of Wales, and point out to her the danger 
of doing such things ; but, at all events, it would be very 
injurious to His Majesty's health, if it came to his ears just 
now." Sir Siduey Smith came from His Royal Highness 
the Duke of Kent to us, and delivered His Royal High- 
ness's message. Sir John declined all negotiation ; but 
told Sir Sidney Smith, that he was empowered to say to 
the Duke of Kent from him, that of whatsoever extent he 
might* his injuries, and however anxious he 

might be to seek justice, yet when he received such an 
intimation from one of the Royal Family, he would cer- 
tainly pause before he took any of those measures he meant 
to take ; and if that was the case, and His Royal High- 
ness the Duke of Kent was desirous of his being quiet, lest 
His Majesty's health or peace might be disturbed by it, 
his duty, and his attachment to his Sovereign were so sin- 
cere, that he would bury (for the present) his private ca- 
lamity, for the sake of His Majesty's repose and the pub- 
lic good ; but he begged to be clearly understood, that he 
did not mean to bind himself hereafter, but reserve to him- 
self a full right of exposing the Princess of Wales, when 
he judged it might be done with greatest effect, and when 
it was not likely to disturb the repose of this country. 
* So in the authenticated copy. 



* 



N 



90 

Sir Sidney Smith told us that he had delivered Sir John's 
message, verbatim, to the Duke of Kent; and, a short 
time afterwards, His Royal Highness commanded Sir 
John and Sir Sidney to dine with him at Kensington Pa- 
lace ; but the Duke of Kent did not speak to Sir John 
upon the subject, and the matter rested there, and would 
have slept for a time, had not the Princess of Wales re- 
commenced a fresh torrent of outrage against Sir John; 
and had he not discovered, that she was attempting to 
undermine his and Lady Douglas's character. Sir John, 
therefore, was compelled to communicate his situation to 
his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, in order that 
he might acquaint the Royal Family of the manner the 
Princess of Wales was proceeding in, and to claim His 
Majesty's and the Heir Apparent's protection. His Royal 
Highness the. Duke of Sussex, with that goodness and con- 
sideration Sir John expected from him, has informed his 
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who sent Sir John 
word that " He desired to have a full detail of all that 
passed during their acquaintance with her Royal High- 
ness the Princess of Wales, and how they became known 
to her, it appearing to the Heir Apparent, from trie re- 
presentation of his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, 
that his Majesty's dearest interests, and those of this 
country, were very deeply involved in the question ; His 
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has commanded 
them to be vey circumstantial in their detail respecting 
all they may know relative to the child the Princess of 
Wales affected to adopt. Sir John and Lady Douglas re- 
peat, that, being so called upon, they feel it their duty to 
detail what they know, for the information of His Ma* 
jesty and the Prince of Whales, and they have so done, as 
upon oath, after having very seriously considered the 
matter, and are ready to authenticate whatever they have 
said, if it should be required, for His Majesty's further 
information. I have drawn up this detail in the best man- 



91 

ner I could ; and fear, from my never having before at- 
tempted a thing of the kind, it will be full of errors, and 
being much fatigued from writing of it, from the original, 
in eight and forty hours, of the facts contained therein, I 
believe they are correct : I am ready to assert, in the most 
solemn manner, that I know them all to be true. 



(Signed) CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS. 
JOHN DOUGLAS. 



In the presence of 
AUGUSTUS FREDERICK. 

Greenwich Park, Dec* 3, 1805. 

Copies of all the Papers alluded to in this detail are in 
the hands of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. 

(Signed) JOHN DOUGLAS. 

In the presence of 
AUGUSTUS FREDERICK. 

A true Copy, 

B, Bloomfield, 

A true Copy, 

J. Becket. 

Whitehall, Z$th August, 180(5. 



92 

(No. 2.) 

Narrative of the Duke of Kent. 

TO introduce the following relation, it is necessary for 
me to premise that, on entering the Prince of Wales's bed- 
room, where our interview took place, my Brother, after 
dismissing his attendants, said to me, that some circum- 
stances had come to his knowledge, with respect to a 
transaction with the Princess of Wales, in which he found 
that I had been a party concerned ; that if he had not 
placed the most entire reliance on my attachment to him, 
and, he was pleased to add, on the well-known upright- 
ness of my character and principles, he should certainly 
have felt himself in no small degree offended, at having 
learnt the facts alluded to from others, and not, in the 
first instance, from me, which he conceived himself every 
way entitled to expect but more especially from that foot- 
ing of confidence on which he had ever treated me through 
life; but, that being fully satisfied my explanation of the 
matter would prove, *that he was not wrong in the opinion 
he had formed of the honourable motives that had ac- 
tuated me in observing a silence with regard to him upon 
the subject; he then was anxiously waiting for me to pro- 
ceed with a narrative, his wish to hear which, he was sure 
he had only to express, to ensure my immediate acqui- 
escence with it. The Prince then gave me his hand, 
assuring me he did not feel the smallest degree of displea- 
sure towards me, and proceeded to introduce the sub- 
ject upon which he required information; when, feeling it 
a duty I owed him, to withhold from his knowledge no 
part of the circumstances connected with it that I could 
bring back to my recollection, I related the facts to him, 
as nearly as I can remember in the following words : 

" About a twelvemonth since, or thereabouts, (for I 
" cannot speak positively to the exact date,) I received a 
" note from the Princess of Wales, by which she requested 



93 

ct me to come over to Blackheath, in order to assist her 
" in arranging a disagreeable matter between her, Sir'Sid- 
u ney Smith, Sir John and Lady Douglas, the particulars 
u of which she would relate to me when I should call. I, 
" in consequence waited upon her, agreeable to her de- 
" sire, a day or two after, when she commenced the con- 
li versation by telling me, that she supposed I knew she 
u had, at one time lived with Lady Douglas on a footing 
u of intimacy, but that she had had reason afterwards to 
" repent having made her acquaintance, and was there- 
" fore rejoiced when she left Blackheath for Plymouth, as 
" she conceived that circumstance would break off all 
u further communication between her and that Lady ; 
" that, however, contrary to her expectation, upon the 
" return of Sir John and her from Plymouth to London, 
" Lady Douglas had called and left her name twice or 
" three times, notwithstanding she must have seen that 
t( admission was refused her ; that having been confirmed 
" in the opinion she had before had occasion to form of 
" her Ladyship, by an anonymous letter she had receiv- 
" ed, in which she was very strongly cautioned against 
u renewing her acquaintance with her, both as being un- 
" worthy of her confidence, from the liberties she had 
" allowed herself to take with the Princess's name, and 
" the lightness of her character, she had felt herself ob- 
" liged, as L-idy Douglas would not take the hint that 
u her visits were" not wished for, to order Miss Wrnon 
" to write her a note, specifically telling her, that they 
" would in future be dispensed with; that the conse- 
" quence of this had been an application through one of 
" her ladies, in the joint names of Sir Sidney Smith, Sir 
" John and Lady Douglas, for an audience, to require 
" an explanation of this, which they considered as an af- 
€< front; and that being determined not to grant it, or to 
" suffer any unpleasant discussion upon the subject, she 
" entreated me to take whatever steps I might judge best 



§4 

" to put an end to the matter, and rid her of all further 
" trouble about it. I stated, in reply, that I had no 
" knowledge of either Sir John or Lady Douglas, and 
" therefore could not, in ihejirst instance, address myself 
" to them; but that I had some acquaintance with Sir Sid- 
" ney Smith, and if the Princess was not averse to that 
" channel, I would try what I could in that way effect. — 
" This being assented to by the Princess, I took my 
" leave, and immediately on my return home, wrote a 
u note to Sir Sidney, requesting him to call upon me as 
" soon as he conveniently could, as I had some business 
n to speak to him upon. Sir Sidney, in consequence, 
" called on me (I think) the next day, when I related to 

* him the conversation, as above stated, that I had had 
" with the Princess. After hearing all I had to say, he 
" observed, that the Princess, in stating to me, that her 
" prohibition to Lady Douglas to repeat her visits at 
" Blackheath, had led to the application for an audience 
<f of her Royal Highness, had kept from me the real 
" cause why he, as well as Sir John and Lady Douglas 
" had made it, as it originated in a most scandalous ano- 
u nymous letter, of a nature calculated to set on Sir John 
" and him to cut each other's throats, which from the 
" hand-writing and stile, they were both fully convinced 
u was the production of the Princess herself. I naturally 
" expressed my sentiments upon such conduct, on the 
" part of the Princess, in terms of the strongest animad- 
" version ; but, nevertheless, anxious to avoid the shame- 
" ful eclat which the publication of such a fact to the 
<c world must produce; the effect, which it coming to 
" the King's knowledge would probably have on his 
<f health, from the delicate" state of his nerves, and all the 
" additional misunderstandings between His Majesty and 
** the Prince, which, I foresaw would inevitably follow, 
' ' were this fact, which would give the Prince so powerful 

• a handle to express his feelings upon the countenance 



95 

" shewn by the King to the Princess, at a time when I 
" knew him to be severely wounded by His Majesty's vi- 
u sits to Blackheath, on the one hand, and the reports he 
" had received of the Princess's conduct on the other, to 
" be brought to light, I felt it my bounden duty, as an 
" honest man, to urge all these arguments with Sir Sidney 
u Smith in the most forcible manner I was master of; 
" adding also, as a further object, worthy of the most se- 
€i rious consideration, the danger of any appearance of 
" ill-blood in the Family at such an eventful crisis, and 
" to press upon his mind the necessity of his using his 
" best endeavours with Sir John Douglas, notwithstand- 
" ing all the provocation that had been given them, to 
" induce him to let the matter drop, and pursue it no 
" further. Sir Sidney observed to me, that Sir John 
<( Douglas was a man, whom, when once he had taken a 
" line, from a principle of honour, it was very difficult 
" to persuade to depart from it ; however, as he thought, 
" that if any man could prevail upon him, he might flatter 
" himself with being the most likely to persuade him, 
" from the weight he had with him ; he would imme- 
" diately try how far he could gain upon him, by making 
<{ use of those arguments I had brought forward to induce 
'* him to drop the matter altogether. About four or five 
" days after this, Sir Sidney called upon me again, and lit— 
" formed me, that upon making use with Sir John of 
< ( those reasons, which I had authorized his stating to be 
u those, hy which I was actuated in making the request? 
" that he would not press the business further, he had not 
" been able to resist their force ; but that the whole ex- 
c< tent of promise he had been able to obtain of him, 
" amounted to no more, than that he would, wider exist- 
" ing circumstances remain quiet, if left u n molested ; for 
" that he would not pledge himself not to bring the sub- 
" ject forward hereafter, when the same motive might no 
*' longer operate to keep him silent. This result I com- 



96 

t{ tnunicated, to the best of my recollection, the follow- 
" ing day to the Princess, who seemed satisfied with it ; 
" and from that day to the present one (Nov. 10, 1805), 
" I never have heard the subject named again in any 
" shape, until called upon by the Prince to make known 
" to him the circumstances of this transaction, as far as I 
" could bring them to my recollection." 

And now, having fulfilled what the Prince wished me 
to do, to the best of my abilities, in case hereafter any 
one, by whom a narrative of all the circumstances, as re- 
lated by Sir John and Lady Douglas, of whom I was in- 
formed by my Brother, subsequent to our conversation, 
should imagine, that I knew more of them than I have 
herein stated, I hereby spontaneously declare, that what I 
have written, is the whole extent of what I was apprized 
of; and had the Princess thought proper to inform me of 
what, in the narrative of the information given by Sir 
John and Lady Douglas, is attended to, I should have felt 
myself obliged to decline all interference in the business ; 
and to have, at the same time, stated to her, that it would 
be impossible for me to keep a matter of such importance 
from the knowledge of the Prince. 

(Signed) EDWARD. 

December c 27, 1805. 

A true Copy, 

JB. Bloomfield. 

A true Copy, 

J. Becket. 



Whitehall, 29th August, 1806. 



97 



(No. 3.) 

For the Purpose of confirming the Statement, 
made by Lady Douglas, of the Circum* 
stances mentioned in her Narrative, the 
following Examinations have been taken, 
and which have been signed by the several 
Persons who have been examined. 



SARAH LAMPERT. 

N. B. This witness was not examined by the Commis- 
sioners ; at least, no Copy of any Examination of her's was 
transmitted with the other Papers ; and no observation is 
■made in the Report of the Commissioners, or in the answer 
of Her Royal Highness upon her Examinations. It has, 
therefore, been thought that there was no necessity for pub- 
lishing them. 

There are two of them; one dated at Cheltenham, 8th 
January, 1 806 ; the other with no date of place, but dated 
29M Match, 1806. 



MR. WM. LAMPERT. 

N. B. The same observations apply to Mr. Wlliam 
hamper Cs Examination, as to those of his Wife, with this 
additional circumstance, that the whole of his Examination 
h mere hearsay. 

*0 



m 



Mth January, 1806. 
WILLIAM COLE 

Has been with the Prince for 21 years in this month ; 
he went with the Princess on her marriage, and remained 
till April, 1802. 

In 1801, he says, he had reason to be dissatisfied with 
the Princess's conduct. During the latter part of that year 
he has seen Mr. Canning, several times, alone with the 
Princess, in a room adjoining to the drawing-room, for aa 
hour or two, of which the company took notice. 

In January 1802, Sir Sidney frequently came to dine 
with the Princess, and their intimacy became familiar ; 
he has frequently dined and supped at the House, and 
when the Ladies have retired, about eleven o'clock, he has 
known Sir Sidney remain alone with the Princess an hour 
or two afterwards; his suspicions increased very much; 
and one night, about twelve o'clock, he saw a person 
wrapped up in a great coat, go across the park, into the 
gate to the green house, and he verily believes it was Sir 
Sidney. 

In the month of March, 1802, the Princess ordered 
some sandwiches, which Cole took into the drawing- 
room, where he found Sir Sidney talking to the Princess ; 
he sat down the sandwiches, and retired. In a short time 
he went again ir\to the room, when he found the Gentle- 
man and Lady sitting close together, in so familiar a 
posture as to alarm him very much, which he expressed 
by a start back, and a look at the gentleman. He dates 
his dismissal from this circumstance ; for, about a fort- 
night afterwards, he was sent for by the Duke of Kent, 
who told him he had seen the Princess at Court the day 
before ; that she had expressed the greatest regard for 
him, and that she intended to do something for him, bj 
employing him, as a confidential person, to do her little 



99 

matters in town ; and his attendance at Montague House 
would not be required. He received this intimation with 
much concern ; but said, Her Royal Kighness's pleasure 
must govern him. 

He says, that the cordiality between the Princes* and 
Lady D. was very soon brought about ; and, he supposes 
on Sir Sidney's account; that the Princess frequently went 
across the Heath to Lady D. where she has stayed till late 
in the evening, and that, sometimes, Lady D. and Sir Sid* 
ney have come with the Princess to Montague House, late 
in the evening, when they have supped. 

Sometime after he had left Montague House, he went 
down, when he spoke to Fanny Lloyd, and asked her 
how things went on amongst them; she said, she wished 
he had remained amongst them ; there was strange goings 
on; — that Sir Sidney was frequently there; and that one 
day, when Mary Wilson supposed the Princess to be gone 
into the library, she went into the bed-room, where she 
found a man at breakfast with the Princess; that there 
was a great to do about it; and that Mary Wilson was 
sworn to secrecy, and threatened to be turned away if she 
divulged what she had seen. 

He does not know much of what passed at Margate in 
1803. 

In 1804, the Princess was at Southend, where Fanny 
Lloyd also was ; when Cole saw her after her return, he 
asked how they had gone on ; she said, " Delightful 
doings, always on ship-board, or the Captain at our 
house/' 

She told him, that one evening, when all were supposed 
to be in bed, Mrs. Lisle met a man in the passage ; but 
no alarm was made — this was Captain Manby ; he was 
constantly in the house. Mr. Cole says, that Mrs. 
Sander knows every thing ; that she has appeared in great 
distress on many occasions, and has said to him, the 



Princess is an altered woman ; he believes Sander to be a 
very respectable woman. 

He says, that he believes Roberts to be an honest man ; 
that Roberts has said to him — (As Roberts himself was 
examined by the Commissioners, and his deposition is given 
in Appendix A. No. 8, what Cole says he heard him say, 
is omitted here.) 

That Arthur, the gardener, is a decent man, but does 
not know if he is privy to any thing. 

That Bidgood is a deaf quiet man, but thinks he has not 
been confidentially trusted. 

That Mrs. Gosden was nurse to the child, and was el- 
ways up-stairs with it ; she is a respectable woman ; but, 
after some time, took upon herself much consequence, 
and refused to dine in the servants' hall. 

In 1801, Lawrence, the painter, was at Montague House, 
for four or five days at a time, painting the Princess's pic- 
ture; that he was frequently alone, late in the night, with 
the Princess, and much suspicion was entertained of him. 

WM. COLE. 



\4th January, 1806. 
WILLIAM COLE 

Says, that the Princess was at Mr. Hood's, at Catbei- 
ington, near Portsmouth, for near a month in the last 
summer, where she took her footman and servants. 

That the house in which Mr. Hood lived was given up 
to the Princess, and he, and his family, went to reside in 
a small house adjoining. 

That the Princess and Mr. Hood very frequently went 
out in the forenoon, and remained out for four or five 
hours at a lime. ' 

That they rode in a gig, attended by a boy, (a country 



101 

lad) servant to Mr. Hood, and took with them cold meat; 
that they used to get out of the gig, and walk into the 
wood, leaving the boy to attend the horse and gig, till 
their return. This happened very frequently ; that the 
Duke of Kent called one day, and seeing the Princess's 
attendants at the window, came into the house, and, after 
waiting some time, went away without seeing the Princess, 
who was out with Mr. Hood. 

This information Mr. Cole had from Fanny Lloyd. 

When Mr. Cole found the drawing-room, which led to 
the staircase to the Princess's apartments, locked, he does 
not know whether any person was with her, but it appear- 
ed odd to him, as he had formed some suspicions. 

Mr. Cole says, that he saw the Princess at Blackheath, 
about four times in the year 1802, after he left her in 
April, and five or six times in London ; that he had heard 
a story of the Princess's being with Child, but cannot say 
that he formed an opinion that she was sa ; that she grew 
lusty, and appeared large behind ; and that at the latter 
end of the year he made the observation, that the Prin- 
cess was grown thinner. 

That he cannot form an opinion about the child ; that 
he has seen an old man and woman (about 50 years of age) 
at Montague House on a Sunday, and has inquired who 
they were, when he was answered by the servants in the 
hall, " That is litle Billy's mother," (meaning the child 
the Princess had taken, and which was found by 
Stikeman.) 

WM. COLE. 



Temple ; 30th January, 1806. 
WILLIAM COLE 

Says, that on the 17th of January instant, he walked 
from Blackheath to London with Mr. Stikeman, and, in 
the conversation on the road, Cole mentioned the circum- 
stance of the little child, saying, that he was grown a fine 
interesting boy; to which Stikeman replied, What, do 
you mean Billy Austin . ? Cole said, Yes. Pray do the old 
man and woman come to see the child as usual? Stikeman 
said, u Old man and woman ! they are not old ; we have 
not seen them much lately; they live at Deptford;" but 
he appeared to avoid any conversation on the subject. 
Ccle says, that the account of the correspondence between 
the Princess and Captain Manby was communicated to 
him by Fanny Lloyd, but she never mentioned any such 
correspondence having taken place through Sicard, since 
Captain Manby went abroad. 

Cole says, that he has not been in the company, or 
presence, of the Prince alone, or had any conversation 
with him on this, or any other subject, since the Princess 
went to live at Charlton, which is near nine years ago. 

WM. COLE. 



QSrd February, 1806. 

WILLIAM COLE 

Says, that the Gentleman and Lady were sitting close 
together on the sofa; but there was nothing particular in 
their dress, position of legs or arms, that was extraordi- 
nary ; he thought it improper that a single Gentleman 
should be sitting quite close to a married Lady, on the 



103 

sofa; and from that situation, and former observations, he 
thought the thing improper. 

The person who was alone with the Lady at late hours 
of the night (twelve and one o'clock), and whom he left 
sitting up after he went to bed, was Mr. Lawrence, the 
Painter, which happened two different nights at least. 

As to the observation made about Sir Sidney having a 
key of every door about the gardens, it was a gardener, 
who was complaining of the door of the green-house being 
left open, and the plants damaged, and who made the 
same to Mr. Lampert, the servant of Sir John Douglas, 
and which he mentioned at Cheltenham to Sir John and 
Mr. Lowten. 

Lampert said he should know the gardener again. 



Temple, 4th April 180§. 
ROBERT BIDGOOD. 

Have lived with the Prince 23 years on the 18th of Sep- 
tember next, and have been with the Princess since 21st 
March, 1798. In 1802 we were at Blackheath, and did 
not go to any other place; in 1801 Sir Sidney Smith left 
his card at Montague House, and he was afterwards in- 
vited to dinner ; and, in the Spring of 1802, Lady Douglas 
came to reside at the Tower, where she stayed about three 
weeks. During this time Sir Sidney was frequently at the 
House, both morning and evening, and remained till three 
or four o'clock in the morning. He has seen Sir Sidney 
in the blue parlour early (by ten o'clock) in the morning ; 
and, on inquiring from the footmen how he came there 
without his knowledge, they said, they had not let him 
in, and knew nothing of his being there. He does not 
know of Sir Sidney being alone till three or four o'clock 



104 

in the morning, as there were other Ladies in the house. 
During the year 1802 the Princess used to ride out in her 
phaeton, attended by Mrs. Fitzgerald, and took out cold 
meat, and went towards Dartford, where she spent the 
day, and returned about six or seven in the evening. — 
Williams, the coachman, always attended the Princess. 

Lady Douglas, during the year 1802, was constantly at 
Montague House, and was admitted at all times. The 
Princess was used frequently to go to Lady Douglas's 
house, where Sir Sidney resided ; at the end of that year 
there was a misunderstanding between Lady Douglas and 
the Princess ; and one day he saw Lady Douglas leave 
the house in tears, and afterwards she has not visited the 
Princess. Mr. Bidgood's wife lias lately told him, that 
Fanny Lloyd told her, that Mary Wilson had told Lloyd, 
that one day, when she went into the Princess's room, she 
found the Princess and Sir Sidney in the fact; that she 
(Wilson) immediately left the room, and fainted at the 
door. 

In the Winter of 1802, and the Spring of 1803, Captain 
Manby became a visitor at Montague House ; his frigate 
was fitting out at Deptford, and Bidgood has reason to be- 
lieve, that the Princess fitted up his cabin, for he has seen 
the cotton furniture brought to 'the Princess to chuse the 
pattern, which was sent to Blake, her upholsterer, in Lon- 
don-street, Greenwich. When Captain Manby was about 
to sail, he was walking in the anti-room, to let Captain 
Manby out; and, as he stayed some time, Bidgood looked 
into the room, and, from a mirror on the opposite side of 
the room to where Captain Manby and the Princess stood, 
he saw Captain Manby kissing the Princess's lips; and 
soon afterwards he went away. He saw the Princess, with 
her handkerchief to her face, and go into the drawing- 
room, apparently in tears. 

In 1803, was not with the Princess at Margate. 

In 1804, was with the Princess at Southend, We, 



TOS 

went there the 2d of May ; Sicard was constantly on the 
look-out for the Africaine, Captain Manby's ship ; and, 
about a month afterwards, Sicard descried the ship; be- 
fore she came to the Nore. The instant the ship cast 
anchor, the Captain came on shore in his boat to the 
Princess. The Princess had two houses, Nos. 8 and 9- 
She lived at No. 9 ; and, on Sicard seeing Captain 
Manby come on shore, he ran down the shrubbery to 
meet, and shewed him into the house, No. 9 ; Captain 
Manby was constantly at No. 9 ; and used to go in the 
evening on board his ship, for some weeks ; but afterwards 
he did not return on board the ship in the evening, and 
Bidgood has seen him in the morning, by ten o'clock, in 
the house, No. 9 ; and, from the circumstance of towels, 
water, and glasses, being placed in the passage, he had 
reason to believe that Manby had slept there all night. 

In 1805, Bidgood was not with the Princess in Hamp- 
shire. 

After the Princess returned from Hampshire, Captain 
Hood used to visit the Princess at Blackheath alone, 
without his wife. Captain Hood used to come about 
twelve o'clock, and was shewn into the blue room, where 
luncheon was ordered ; and the Princess and the Captain 
were alone together, without a lady or other attendantp 
He used to stay dinner, and sometimes in boots ; about 
an hour afterwards coffee w r as ordered ; after which the 
Princess retired, and Captain Hood had also left the room, 
and had not been let out of the house by any of the ser- 
vants. Bidgood has not seen Captain Hood since about 
Chrismas last. 

Bidgood has strong suspicions that Mrs. Sander used to 
deliver letters to Sicard, which he conceived to be from 
the Princess to Captain Manby, as Sicard used to put the 
letters into his pocket, and not in the common bag for 
letters. 



103 

Mrs. Sander must be fully informed of all the circum^ 
stances above alluded to. Mary Wilson and Miss Miel- 
field must also know all the circumstances. 

Bidgood has seen the mother (as she is called) of the 
little boy frequently at Montague House ; the child was 
about three weeks old when he first saw it. The mother 
was at Montague House on Monday last. The husband 
worked in Deptford Yard : but was discharged, and Stike- 
man has since employed him at his house in town. The 
mother appears to be better dressed than usual. 

(Signed) R. BIDGOOD. 



SARAH BIDGOOD. 

About six months ago, in a conversation with Fanny 
Lloyd, respecting the general conduct of the Princess, 
she said, that whilst Sir Sidney visited the Princess, that 
Mary Wilson had gone into the bed-room to make up the 
fire, and found the Princess and Sir Sidney in such an in- 
decent situation, that she immediately left the room, and 
was so shocked that she fainted away at the door. 

(This witness was not examined before the Commissioners; 
at least, no Copy of such Examination, if there was any, 
was transmitted with the other Papers. The first Para- 
graph in her Examination is, however, stated above, as it 
is observed upon in the Princess's Answer; but the re- 
mainder, not being adverted to, either by the Commis- 
sioner's Report, or by the Anszver, and being all hearsay, is 
emitted.) 



107 

Temple, \%th May, 1806. 
FRANCES LLOYD* 

FROM RIPLEY, IN SURREY. 

TTo the best of my knowledge, Mary Wilson said, that 
she had seen the Princess and Sir Sidney in the blue 
room ; but she is so close a woman, that she never opens 
her mouth on any occasion ; never heard Mary Wilson 
say she was so alarmed as to be in a fit. 

Heard the gardener at Ramsgate say one day, at din- 
ner, that he had seen Mr. Sicard and Captain Man by go 
across the lawn towards a subterraneous passage leading to 
the sea. 

When her Royal Highness was going to the launch. 
Sir Andrew Hammond and bis son came the day before, 
and dined with her, and in the next morning, about four 
o'clock, after the doors of the house were open, she saw 
Captain Manby sitting in the drawing-room of the adjoin- 
ing house to her Royal Highness, which room belonged to 
her. 

One morning, about six o'clock, she was called to get 
breakfast for her Royal Highness, when she saw Captain 
Manby and her waking in the garden, at Ramsgate. 

Heard from Mrs. Lisle's maid, that the Princess, when 
at Lady Sheffield's, went out of her bed-room, and could 
not find her way back ; but nothing more. 



103 

About four years ago, as I think, Mr. Mills attended 
me for a cold, and, in conversation, he asked me if the 
Prince visited at our house ? I said, not to my knowledge. 
He said, the Princess certainly was with child. 

FRANCES LLOYD, 

A true Copy, 

(Signed) J. Becket, 

Whitehall, Q9th Jugust, 1806. 



END OF THE DOCUMENTS 



A 

STATEMENT OFFACTS; 

Relative to 

THE CHILD 

Now tindery he Protection ~oj Her Royal Highness 

THE PRINCESS OF WALES; 

Describing, at large, the Circumstance of the Chilcfr being takeis 
from a Poor Woman from Deptford"; 

THE 

PARTICULARS OF ITS BIRTH, &c 

AND 

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PARENTS OF THE CHILB. 



A 

STATEMENT OF FACTS 



RELATIVE TO 



THE CHILD 

Now under the Protection of Her Royal Highness 

THE PRINCESS OF WALES. 



Soon after the memorable Investigation of 1806-7, it 
was currently rumoured, for want of evidence on the sub- 
ject, that the Child which her Royal Highness had adopt- 
ed, was, in fact, her own son. General as this report 
was, very considerable doubts arose in the mind of the 
writer as to its authenticity. In order to remove these 
doubts, and to obtain satisfactory information relative to 
this circumstance, he instituted a diligent inquiry concern- 
ing the reputed mother ; confident that, by these means, he 
should procure a complete proof of the fact ; at least, so 
far as proof could be obtained, without witnessing the ac- 
tual birth of the infant. His inquiries were successful ; 
and an interview was had with the mother of the Child, 
who is still living. 

The writer being a perfect stranger to this woman, he 
introduced himself to her by remarking how fortunate 
she was to be known to her Royal Highness the Princes! 
of Wales. The mother acquiesced in this observation, 
and said that her Royal Highness had been so good as to 
take under her care one of her children, a little boy named 
William ; that her Royal Highness had kept the child in 
her possession for some years; ever iince 1802. He next 



112 

Inquired the reason of her Royal Highness's taking a fancy 
to the child ; she then detailed some particulars relative to 
this affair, and he ltft her ; promising, however, to renew 
his visit, as he wished to put some further questions to her. 
And this, the writer observed, he was the more anxious to 
do ; having heard it reported, that doubts were entertain- 
ed as to her being the mother of the child. She wept, 
and said she had herself heard reports of that nature ; but 
she could not imagine what could be the cause of these 
doubts ; that she was positive as to its being her own child ; 
and could prove this fact by bringing forward several per- 
sons who had known the child from the time of its 
birth. 

Some few days after this interview, the writer paid 
another visit to the mother, at which time he also saw 
her husband, and conversed with them both. He then 
signified a desire to see the child; but was informed 
that it was at Dr. Burney's school at Greenwich, and 
that the mother saw the child only when it was with 
her Royal Highness at Blackheath or Kensington ; and 
that she never had it at home with her, since the Prin- 
cess first took it under her protection. She thought, 
however, that the writer might see the child at Green- 
wich, as he constantly attended church on Sundays 
with the other boys. 

The writer afterwards, frequently saw Mrs. Austin 
(the mother of the child) and conv. rsed with her res- 
pecting her son. Feeling great anxiety to behold the 
Child, he went to Greenwich expressly for this purpose, 
but was, the first time, disappointed , — William being 
on that day, with her Royal Highness at Kensington. 
He however repeated his visit to this placp, and actu- 
ally saw the Child ; and walked by his side, from the 
church to Dr. Burney's school. When he inquired for 



US 

Master Austin, of one of the young gentlemen, as they 
were returning from church ; when two littleboys walking 
together in regular procession, were pointed out to him. 
Having desired the boy not to say which was young 
Austin, the writer instantly discovered this lad by the 
strong likeness which he bore to the mother: — the si- 
milarity of countenance is, indeed, strikingly marked. 
He spoke to the boy, and asked, if his name was Aus- 
tin ; to which he answered, " Yes/' From this mo- 
ment, the writer's doubts completely vanished, and 
he was fully and satisfactorily convinced that this Child 
h no other than the child of Sophia Austin. 

On a subsequent occasion, when he saw Mrs. Austin, 
the writer expressed his entire satisfaction in having 
beheld and conversed with her son at Greenwich ;— he 
also added, that he was perfectly convinced she was the 
mother of the child then, and now, under the protection 
of her Royal Highness. Any person, indeed, endowed 
with the blessing of sight, must, on seeing the mother 
and the child, be instantly struck with the marked re- 
semblance between them, and feel, forcibly, the convic- 
tion of the writer on this subject. Mrs. Austin ap- 
peared quite elated with his expressions of satisfaction 
on this point ; and said, if he would be at the trouble 
of committing them to paper, she would detail the whole 
particulars of her Royal Highness's taking the child ; 
and added " that she thought it due to her Royal 
Highness, that the public mind should be satisfied as to 
this point." He, accordingly, wrote down from her own 
mouth, the following interesting facts, relative both to 
the child, and to Mrs. Austin and her husband. 

Samuel Austin, the father of William (the 
child now under the protection of her Royal Highness, 

*3 



114, 

ana the subject of this narrative,) was born at Welling- 
ton in the county of Somerset ; and is the son of Peter 
and Lydia Austin, poor, but industrious people of that 
town. 

When very young, he was initiated into his father's 
business, which was that of a Woolcomber ; but he left 
Wellington at an early age, and went to reside at Wil- 
ton, in the county of Wilts. Here, after living some 
years, and working at his trade, he married, at the age 
of twenty-one, Sophia, the daughter of Daniel and Ara- 
bella Whitmarsh, also poor, industrious people of the same 
town. This event took place on the 1st of April, 1796, 
Sophia being then in her twenty-first year. 

Samuel and Sophia Austin continued at Wil- 
ton until they had two children, Daniel and William, 
which latter died at the age of nine months. 

Soon after the breaking out of the war on the Conti- 
nent, the clothing business became very slack, and 
Austin determined to remove to London, at which 
place he arrived in the month of February, 1798; — - 
leaving his wife and two children with her friends in the 
country. Here, he engaged himself as a porter, with a 
Mr. Young, a broker, in Lombard-court, Seven Dials. 
Shortly afterwards, his wife followed him, leaving the 
youngest child with her friends at Wilton. Upon her 
arrival in town, finding that her husband could scarcely 
earn a sufficiency to maintain himself, she resolved to 
go into service; and, accordingly, engaged herself with a 
Mr. Cooper, a coal merchant, of Villiers-street, in the 
Strand ; leaving the child she brought with her to the 
care of a relation. Sophia remained in this place about 
twelve months. 

Austin being much afflicted with the rheumatism, 
was incapable of continuing long in Mr. Young's em* 



115 

ploy. He was, afterwards, with a Cheesemonger in 
Chandos-street, but was soon obliged to leave this situ- 
ation also, on the same account. He next entered 
into the service of Mr. Cunningham, a hatter, in Picca- 
dilly ; but having, soon after he had taken this engage- 
ment, a severe attack of his old complaint, he was obliged 
to leave Mr. Cunningham. Austin then lived as foot- 
man with the Duchess of Cumberland, where he 
stayed but for a short period, owing to a return of his 
rheumatic affection. 

Mrs. Austin, after quitting Mr. Cooper's service, 
filled the office of nurse in several families. During 
the greater part of this time, she and her husband 
lived separately from each other. 

On the 12th of March,' 1800, Mrs. Austin had another 
son, who was named Samuel, Of this child she lay in 
at the Brownlow-street Hospital; having been recom- 
mended thither by a Mr. Ashlin, of Belton-street. 

In the ensuing August, Mrs. Austin was employed 
to take care of a house for Mr. Woodford, her husband's 
uncle, at Deptford ; with whom she remained about twelve- 
months. During some part of this time, her husband lived 
chiefly in London, in various places of service ; soon 
after his wife's removal to * Deptford, ^Austin went to 
live with her at that place, and at a subsequent period, 
obtained employment in His Majesty's Dock Yard, 
as a labourer at 12s. per week, and an allowance of 
1$. 6d. for chip money. Having continued in this si- 
tuation about fifteen months, he was discharged with 
many others, at the time of the general peace in 1802. 

Being now out of employ, Austin and his wife were 
in much distress ; and on one occasion, some little differ- 
ence arising between them, he proposed that she and her 
children should becomejchargeable to the parish. This she 
refused, as long as she was able to work, andeouldget her 



116 

bread; but proposed to take one of the children, and t* 
leave the other to the care of her husband. To this, how- 
ever, Austin objected, and left her ; first dividing the 
only quartern loaf they had left , between them. 
Nearly a fortnight had elapsed, before Mrs. Austin re- 
ceived any tidings of her husband ; when he sent a per- 
son for his clothes, but these she refused to deliver. 
Austin now returned, and again urged her to seek 
parochial relief for herself and her two children ; but 
this, however, she again positively refused to do, on the 
grounds before stated. 

Mrs. Austin having again become pregnant, and 
being within two months of her delivery, she was desi- 
rous of obtaining a letter of recommendation to be again 
admitted into the Brozcnlow-street Hospital. Being ac- 
quainted with a poor woman of the name of Lasley, 
who used to obtain the broken meat, &c. from Mon- 
tague House, the residence of Her Royal High- 
ness the Princess of Wales, Mrs. Austin request- 
ed Mrs, Lasley to endeavour to procure a letter of re- 
commendation from some of the ladies in attendance, 
for admittance into the Hospital. She made applica- 
tion, but was not successful. Fearing, however, that 
Mr*. Austin would suspect that she had not applied for 
her, she proposed that Mrs. Austin should accompany 
her to Montague House. To this Mrs. Austin agreed, 
and on the Monday following they kept the appointment; 
Mrs. Austin remaining on the Heath, while her com- 
panion went into the house. 

Mrs. Lasley inquired for Mr. St ik em an, the page^ 
thinking him the most likely person to succeed with the 
ladies ; but he not being in the house at the time, they 
returned. Meeting Mr. Stikeman, however, as they 
were crossing the Heath, Mrs. Lasley spoke to him, and 
said, " This is the poor woman for whom 1 solicited a 



117 

letter of recom mendation into the hospital." Mr. Sti k e- 
man observed, he was very sorry he could not obtain 
one for her; but said the ladies would give her a letter 
to be attended at home. Mrs. Austin told him she had, 
once before, lain in at Brownlow Street Hospital, and 
would like to go there if she could, it not being so conve- 
nient for her to lay in at home. He said he should be 
happy to serve her if he could, but in this case he could 
not, as he had already asked the ladies the question. 

Being unsuccessful in procuring a letter from Mon- 
tague House, she applied to a friend in town of the 
name of Wilson who obtained one for her, from Mr. 
Hoare, the banker, in Fleet Street ; and was admitted 
into the hospital, on Sunday the 11th of July, 1802. 
On this day, Mrs. Austin was delivered of a son, 
who was baptized at the house of the Institution, on the 
\5th of the same month, and named William. 

A few days after its birth, the child was observed to 
have a mark of red wine on its right hand, completely en- 
circling the thumb; but this mark has since gradually 
disappeared, and is not at present discernible. 

Mrs. Austin continued in the hospital until the 29th 
of July, at which time she left it and returned with her 
son to Deptford ; calling in her way at Mr. Hoares, to 
leave a letter of thanks, as is usual in these cases. 

Austin being still out of employ, and his wife hear- 
ing that several persons had made successful application 
to Her Royal High ness the Princess of Wales 
to procure a reinstatement in his Majesty's Dock Yard, 
she was advised to try this expedient on behalf of her 
husband. Mrs. Austin proposed to him to write 
a petition, and she would take it to Her Royal 
Highness, and endeavour to get him replaced in his 
former situation. Austin, however hesitated, for some 
time, to embrace his wife's offer, conceiving that the 



IIS 

attempt would be quite fruitless. At length, to satisfy 
Mrs. Austin, he consented to the measure. His wife 
accordingly took the petition, and went with the child 
(William) in her arms, on Saturday the 23rd of Octo- 
ber, 1802, to Montague House. Here she inquir- 
ed for MiyStikeman, whom she had seen but once only 
before, when she applied for a letter of recommendation 
to the Brovvnlow-street hospital. 

Mr. Stikeman appearing, she requested him to pre- 
sent the petition, stating that the object of it was to get 
her husband reinstated in the Dock Yard, from whence 
he had been lately discharged, with many others. He 
said, he was " denied doing such things ; having ap- 
plications of a similar nature, almost daily." She urged 
her great distress, telling him she had another child at 
home, and no prospect of any provision for them, her 
husband being quite destitute of employment. He 
then gave her a s hillin g, took the petition and put it in- 
to his pocket, observed she had a fine child in her arms, 
and asked hozv old it was ; Mrs. Austin answered, about 
three months. Mr. Stikeman replied, if it had been 

fl5o«/ fl FORTNIGHT OLD, HE COULD HAVE GOT IT 

taken care of for her ; she observed to him that 
she thought it a better age to be taken from the mother, 
than if it were younger ; he answered, "Ah, true." He 
then turned up the child's clothes and looked at its legs, 
saying, "It's a fine child, give it to me? He accordingly 
took the child into the house, and as he went along the 
passage, danced it up and down, talking to it. 

During the time Mr. Stikeman was in possession of 
the child, Mrs. Austin remained at the door of Montague 
House, on the Heath. Having waited his return with 
her child for more than half an hour, she began to be 
apprehensive that her son would be taken from her, and 
that she should not behold him again. These fears she 



110 

communicated to some persons passing at the time, a± 
she stood weeping at the gate ; — but they encouraged 
her to hope for the best, saying there was no doubt but 
that the child would be safely restored to her. 

Mr. Stikeman now brought the child to her, and 
said that he had been a very good boy, and desired her 
to give him the shilling again, that he might make it up 
half-a-guinea ; and this, he said, was a present from 
the ladies. 

She then asked Mr. Stikeman if he thought he 
could get the child taken care of for her : he said he 
would try what he could do, and desired that she would 
come again on Monday. He then desired her to go 
round to the Cookery, and he would give her some* 
thing. On her way thither, she met him in the yard, 
and he gave her some broken meat, telling her to be 
sure to bring the child again on Monday, by eleven 
o'clock in the morning. 

On her return, Mrs. Austin found that her 
husband had packed up all his clothes, and had gone 
off by the coach to London ; leaving the other child 
with a woman in the hous#. She, afterwards, discover- 
ed that he had engaged himself with a Mrs. Nichols, 
a furrier in Oxford Road. 

On Monday October 25, Mrs. Austin again went to 
Montague House, according to appointment; but the 
day being very foggy, she wandered about for some time, 
not being able to find her way, and was near falling 
down a precipice on the Heath, called Sot's-hole. 
Meeting, however, with a baker who was crossing the 
Heath, he directed, her to her Royal Highness's 
house. When she arrived, she inquired for Mr. 
Stikeman, who came out to her, and exclaimed, 
*\ Bless me ! I did not expect to see you such a morning 
at this!" He now inquired for her husband ; she told 
him, that he was from home, seeking employment. He 



120 

then asked if she could come the next morning, and 
bring her husband with her, as he particularly wished to 
see him ; and observed, if they were not at Montague 
House by 10 or 1 1 o'clock, he would call on them at 
Deptford, at twelve. He then gave her some broken 
meat, and she went away. Austin and his wife lived, 
at this time, at No. 7, Deptford, New Row, with a per- 
son of the name of Bearblock, a milkman. 

When she reached her home, supposing that some- 
thing advantageous was intended to be done for them, 
she resolved to go immediately to London, in quest of 
her husband ; whom, after a considerable time spent in 
the search, she found at a relation's. Mrs. Austin 
then related to her husband the success she had met 
with at Montague House, and told him that Mr. 
Stikeman wished very particularly to see him ; and 
that he had better return with her by the coach. T© 
this he readily consented, being too unwell to fulfil the 
engagement into which he had entered. 

Austin and his wife arrived at Deptford about 1 1 
o'clock that night. In consequence of his disorder in- 
creasing, Austin was so ill, that he found himself inca- 
pable of rising in thejnorning ; and was, of course, pre- 
vented from going to Montague House. At 12 o'clock, 
however, Mr. Stikeman called on them, and made 
particular inquiries into their circumstances and cha- 
racter ; promising to do what he could for them, in the 
way of getting the child taken care of. 

A few days afterwards, Mrs. Austin went to Mon- 
tague House, and seeing Mr. Stikeman at the 
door, she asked him whether he would be able to do 
any thing for her child. He said, he would try 
and let her know. On Thursday the 4th of Novem- 
ber, Mr. Stikeman came to Deptford, and said 
he had spoken to Arthur the gardener, to employ her bus- 



121 

band. Austin, however, being introduced to the gar- 
dener, was told, that he could not have any employment ; 
but the gardener promised to recommend him as a la- 
bourer to a master bricklayer I But, as Austin did not 
possess even a labourer's tools, this prospect of employ- 
ment vanished. 

Mr. Stikeman, at this time, directed Mrs. Austin 
to bring her child to Montague House, the next day 
being the 5th of November, and gave her particular in- 
structions in what manner she was to act on the occa- 
sion. He directed her to come to Biackheath at a cer- 
tain hour, and to place herself near the door of Mon- 
tague House ; — to lay the child on her arms, in the 
same manner as she would, if it were to be christened ; — 
in full view, so that her Royal Highness might see 
it as she was getting into her carriage. It happened, 
however, that the day was very unfavourable, raining 
almost • incessantly from morning till night ; and Mrs. 
Austin was prevented from going. This circumstance 
rendered her peculiarly uneasy, and she hesitated, whe- 
ther (as she had been unable to attend the appointment) 
she should go any more to Montague House, until she 
received further instructions. 

On the next day, being the 6th of November, about 
oneo'clock, Mr. Stikeman came to Deptford to inquire 
the reason of her not bringing the child according to 
appointment. She urged the unfavourable state of the 
weather as the v only cause of her absence ; and express- 
ed the sorrow she felt on the occasion ; but said, that 
she was fearful of endangering her own and the child's 
health, by going so far (being about two miles) in a 
pouring rain. 

Mr. Stikeman appeared much displeased, and at 
last became quite angry ; telling her she must leave 
what she was about immediatelv, dress herself and the 

*R " 



122 

child, and hasten, with all possible speed, to Montague 
House, as the Princess was anxious to see it immediate- 
ly ; — that when she came she must inquire for him, — and 
not speak to any of the servants, or take the least no- 
tice of the circumstance to any person whatever. He 
farther observed, that he could ill spare the time to call 
upon her, and that he must return without delay ; or 
he should be too late for dinner. 

She instantly gave the child to a Mrs. Davis, who 
lived in the next room, to dress it, while she changed 
her own apparel. Mrs. Austin made all possible haste, 
and arrived at Montague House about two o'clock. 
In her way thither she met her husband, who accompa- 
nied her, and assisted in carrying the child. He re- 
mained at the door, and Mrs. Austin entered and in- 
quired for Mr. Stikeman, who being called from the 
steward's room, and came to her — went up the stair- 
case, and desired her to follow him. Mr. Stikeman 
then shewed her into a room, called the Blue-room, ob- 
tained some refreshment for her and the child, and 
told her that she was now to be introduced to her 
Royal Highness, who was then taking a walk, but 
that she would soon return. Mrs. Austin zvaited for 
about two hours. During [this time, she felt much 
agitated, fearing that she should not conduct herself 
with propriety in her Royal Highness's presence. These 
facts she communicated to Mr. Stikeman who told her 
she had nothing to apprehend; " that Her Royal 
Highness was a very affable, good sort of a lady, and 
that she would say all for her." 

At length, her Royal Highness made her ap- 
pearance, coming into the room where Mrs. Austin was, 
from an adjoining one, accompanied by two ladies ; but 
of these ladies Mrs. Austin has no knowledge. Her 
Royal Highness came to her as she stood with the 



child in her arms, and touching the child tinder the 
chin, said, " O what a nice one; — how old is itV Mrs. 
Austin replied, about three months. Her Royal High- 
ness then, without saying another word, turned to her 
ladies, and conversed with them in French; but of the 
purport of this conversation Mrs. Austin could form no 
idea. Immediately afterwards her Royal Highness re- 
tired, with one of the ladies, into the same room from 
whence she came, leaving the other lady and Mr. 
Stikeman, with her and the child. Mr. Stikeman 
and this lady also, retired for a few minutes into an ad- 
joining room ; and as they were shutting the door, she 
heard the lady say to Mr. Stikeman, " What do you 
know of this woman ?" the door closing, she heard no 
more. 

The lady then returned and asked her whether she 
thought she could make up her mind to part from the 
child, and leave it with her Royal Highness, observing 
" what a fortunate woman she would be to have her 
child taken under the protection of so illustrious a per- 
sonage, and that the child would, in all respects, be 
brought up and treated as a young prince ; and if he 
should behave properly as he grew up, what an excel- 
lent thing it would be for him." Mrs. Austin replied, 
that she thought she could part , from it to such a 
person as her Royal Highness, rather than keep it, 
and suffer it to want. The lady then gave her a pound 
note, and desired her to go into the coffee-room, and get 
some arrow-root and other necessaries, for the purpose 
of weaning the child; as she then suckled it. Mrs. 
Lloyd, the woman who superintended the coffee-room, 
was directed by Mr. Stikeman, to give the arrow-root to 
her, with instructions how to mix it; and Mrs. Austin was 
ordered to begin weaning the child that night, but if the 



324 

weaning appeared to hurt the child, she was not to per- 
severe, but to inform them. 

She then went with Mr. Stikeman into the coffee- 
room, where he ordered Mrs. Lloyd to give her the ne- 
cessary articles. After she had received them, Mr. 
Stikeman accompanied her out of the house, between 
four and five o'clock. As they were going out, a carriage 
stood at the front door, and a lady who came from the 
house was getting into it. Mr. Stikeman accompanied 
her to the carriage-door, and said to the lady, " This is 
the little boy which her Royal Highness is going to take, 
" Oh, is it/' she replied, and what is his name? He an- 
swered William; "why, that is the very name to 
which her Royal Highness is so partial." Who this 
lady was she does not know. The carriage driving off, 
they proceeded, and were joined by Austin, who had 
waited all the time on the Heath. Mr. Stikeman 
walked some distance with them, conversing very freely 
as they walked along ; and her husband spoke to him of 
his afflicted state of body. Mrs. Austin said, " I be- 
lieve her Royal Highness is going to take the child," 
to which Mr. Stikemam observed, "Yes, I believe she 
will ;" but requested them not to say any thing about 
it to any person for the present, as they could not be 
certain that this would be the case. She then asked 
him what answer she should give to any person who 
might inquire about it; he replied, " say nothing for 
the present, but when the child is finally left with her 
Royal Highness, tell the truth, and say that she has taken 
the child under her protection.^ Mr. Stikeman then 
left them, and returned, charging her to inform him how 
the child took its weaning, or if she could not do this he 
promised to call on them ; ordered her to come when 
she wanted more arrow-root, and wished them a good 
night. 



125 

Mrs. Austin went again to Montague House on the 
Thursday following, and saw Mr. Stikeman. He said he 
expected her before, as they were anxious to know how the 
child took its weaning. Mr. Stikeman called at Dept- 
ford, twice afterwards, in the course of that week, and 
observed, that the child appeared to be doing very well, 
and looked quite as healthy as when she suckled it. 

Mrs. Austin called at Montague House again on the 
Sunday morning, and inquired for Mr. Stikeman, who was 
not then stirring; but she waited at the door till he came. 
He gave her more arrow-root, and desired her to wait, 
and he would inquire of the ladies on what day Her 
Royal Highness would want the child. He soon returned, 
and said, that she must bring it on the next day, (Monday 
the 15th of November) by eleven o'clock in the forenoon; 
and observed, that he had asked for a day or two more for her, 
but Her Royal Highness said, " No : she could not wait 
any longer, and must have him by that time." 

On Monday, about 11 o'clock, Mis. Austin left home, 
calling on a Mrs. Jones in Butt Lane, an acquaintance, 
that she might take leave of the child before she finally 
parted from it. In her way to Montague House, she 
met Mr, Stikeman, near the sign of the Green Mao, 
talking to a gentleman. When he saw her he crossed 
over the way to her, and said she was rather behind 
her time; that the ladies had been looking out for her 
to see which way she would come ; and that the house- 
maid had been twice to the gate looking for her. He 
said he was going to Greenwich to purchase a night lamp 
for the child. — Observing her cry, he inquired the cause 
of her grief; she told him they were the mingled tears 
of joy and grief at parting from her child. He said, 
" Make haste up, and make free and ask for any thing you 
want, and the ladies will not think the worse of you by 
seeing you in trouble at parting, from your child /" He 



126 

told her when she arrived at Montague House to ask 
for Miss Sander, which she immediately did. 

Mary Wilson shewed her into Miss Sander's 
room, which is on the same floor with and next to her 
Royal Highness's sleeping-room. Miss Sander 
was not in the room at the time, but Mary Wilson 
went to inform her of Mrs. Austin's arrival. Miss San- 
der came from her Royal Highness's room, and seeing 
her much distressed a! parting from the infant, she said, 
ei It is still your option whether to leave it or not with her 
Royal Highness. 97 Mrs. Austin replied, "she would certain' 
ly let her Royal Highness have it, as she knew it would 
be taken care of. " Miss Sander then took the child, 
saying, " Take a kiss of your mother, my dear, at part- 
ing," and conveyed it to Her Royal Highness.— 
Mrs. Austin waited for a considerable time before Miss 
Sander returned, who (as she was told) was dressing 
the child; new clothes having been provided for it by 
her Royal Highness's orders. Miss Sander then 
brought the clothes which the child wore, when it was 
brought, even to the very pins. She now signified to 
Miss Sander a desire to see the child once more be- 
fore she finally left it, but this favour was denied her. 

Mrs. Austin was now desired to go into the Coffee- 
room, and get some refreshment, where she waited Mr. 
Stikeman's return from Greenwich. During her stay in 
the Coffee-room, Mrs. Lloyd said to her with apparent 
displeasure, " I don't suppose the child will be kept in 
the house; I don't know what we shall do with it here; 
we have enough to do to wait on her Royal Highness." 
It appeared evident that much confusion prevailed among 
the servants on this occasion. Mrs. Austin then asked 
her where she thought the child would be placed. Mrs. 
Lloyd said, she supposed " it would be put across the Heath, 
where her Royal Highness had some other children 



127 

at nurse, under the care of the Steward's wife." This 
unlooked-for and unwelcome information added consi- 
derably to her distress, as she understood that the child 
was to be brought up in the house, under the imme- 
diate inspection of Her Royal Highness. Just at 
this moment, Her Royal Highnesses bell rang, and 
the footman came in for some arrow-root, which Mrs. 
Lloyd mixed, and he took it with him. 

By this time Mr. Stikeman had returned from 
Greenwich, and Mrs. Austin immediately told him 
what Mrs. Lloyd had said respecting the child's being 
put out of the house. He desired her to pay no atten- 
tion to any thing that was said by any of the servants, 
as they knew nothing about the business ; and requested 
her when she came again, to go into the steward's room. 
She also now stated to him how they were situated ; 
that her husband was ill with the rheumatism ; that 
they had nothing to subsist upon ; and that she thought 
of going into service. This, however, Mr. Stike- 
man appeared not to approve, saying that she would 
by that means be giving up her home, and that he 
thought she had better wait, and see what might turn 
up ; she then took her leave of them, and departed. 

The next day Mr. Stikeman came to Deptford, to 
inform Mrs. Austin that the child was very well; that 
her Royal Highness had done every thing for it her- 
sJf ; and that she appeared to be very fond of it. She 
asked him when it would be agreeable for her to see 
her child ; and he said if she would come on Wednes- 
day evening, he would then endeavour to procure an in- 
terview for her. She accordingly went at the time ap- 
pointed, but was informed by Mr. Stikeman, that her 
Royal Highness was engaged with the child, that 
she did not like to be disturbed, and that she must come 
some other time. 



128 

Mrs. Austin then said, that several persons at Deptford 
had been telling her that she would never see the child 
again ; that they blamed her very much for parting from it, 
saying that they would not let the King have a child 
of theirs, and man} 7 other observations of the like nature, 
which contributed to render her very uneasy. Mr. Stike- 
man then observed, " If you will come with me, I will 
satisfy you, by shewing you the child with her Roya^ High- 
ness. He then took her to the door of the Princess's room 
and desired her to look through the keyhole ; and having 
obeyed Mr. Stikeman's directions, she distinctly observed 
her Royal Highness passing to and fro, nursing the 
child and chatting to it. Mrs. Austin was now better satis- 
fied. Mr. Stikeman desired her to come again on Sa- 
turday evening, when he promised that she should see the 
child. 

Mrs. Austin accordingly went to Montague House on 
the day appointed, and saw Mary Wilson, who told 
her that the child was asleep, and that Her Royal 
Highness was taking a walk. Upon her Royal High- 
ness's return, Mrs. Austin was ordered up into the Blue- 
room, where thePrincess was, with the child laying inner 
lap; and she ran and kissed the child as he lay. Her Royal 
Highness saidit had been a very good child; but that it 
had a little cough, and sucked its thumb ; but that she had 
consulted a physician, and he was of opinion that its suck- 
ing its thumb would not hurt him. Mrs. Austin observed 
some phials there, and on the label was written, " For 
the infant at Montague-Bowee." Her Royal 
Highness desired her to come again on Sunday morning 
and she should nurse the child. This she did, and waited 
a considerable time, the child not being dressed. She was, 
at length, introduced into Miss Sander's room, where the 
Princess was, who herself gave her the child. Here Mrs. 
Austin remained, nursing the child ; her Royal Highness 



129 

being present, during the whole of the time, with Miss 
Sander. 

No particular conversation took place at this meeting, 
Mrs. Austin having told the Princess that her little boy 
Samuel was ill at home, her Royal Highness inquired 
the nature of the child's complaint ; and she replied 
that she did not know : — her Royal Highness said she 
would send a doctor to see it, and Mr. Edmeades, her 
Royal Highness's apothecary called at Deptford, in Mrs. 
Austin's absence, for this purpose. A person who lived 
in the next room told Mr. Edmeades that she was ap- 
prehensive that the child had the measles. This infor- 
mation Mr. Edmeades communicated to her Royal 
Highness, at which she appeared displeased, sup- 
posing that Mrs. Austin knew the cause of the child's 
illness, though she forbore to mention it. But Her 
Royal Highness, desired Mr. Edmeades not to be- 
have harshly to Mrs. Austin, as it was possible that she 
might not have been aware of the nature of her son's 
illness at that time. 

Mr. Edmeades however, having called at Deptford to 
see Mrs. Austin and the child, he began to chide her 
for not informing her Royal Highness with the fact. 
She told him that it was impossible for her to do so, as 
she was not acquainted with the nature of the child's 
disorder. Upon farther examination, indeed, it appeared 
that the measles was not the disorder with which tha 
child was afflicted. Mr. Edmeades then desired her 
not to say any thing to the Princess on the subject of 
his speaking harshly to her, as he was in the habit of 
attending her. He also observed that if the child had 
been ill with the measles, it might have produced very 
terious consequences, as her Royal Highness had not, 
at that time, bad tha disorder herself. 

#. 



ISO 

Mr. Stikeman called on Mrs. Austin a day or two 
afterwards, and desired her not to come to Montaoue 
House, till Mr. Edmeades should be of opinion that 
there was no danger to be apprehended. 

Mrs. Austin intimated to Mr. Stikeman, at this time, 
her intention of going into service as a nurse. He said 
he had asked permission of her Royal Highness, that 
she might be engaged as a nurse for the child; but she 
answered, " No !" Mr. Stikeman seeing an advertise- 
ment in one of the papers, of a situation which he 
thought would suit Mrs. Austin, he called and left some 
money to enable her to take the coach to London, and 
make the requisite inquiries. The reference was to a 
Mrs. Garrard, in Panton-street. To this place she went 
on the 28th of January, 1803, on the recommendation 
of Mr. Stikeman, and continued with Mrs. Garrard till 
the June following; her child she entrusted to the care 
of a friend, her Royal Highness contributing to- 
wards its support. Mrs. Austin's husband being still 
out of employ, Mr. Stikeman engaged him at his own 
house, at Pimlico, for the purpose of turning a mangle, 
cleaning shoes, and going on errands. There he con- 
tinued nearly five years. 

When Mrs. Austin left Mrs. Garrard's she became a 
servant of all work, in the family of a Mr. Edwards, a 
Wine-merchant, in Crutched Friars; in which place she 
continued till the Christmas following. Mrs. Austin now 
entered into the service of a Mr, Millard of <Sf. Dun- 
stan's-hill, and remained with him till the following 
March twelvemonth. On her quitting this last situation 
she returned to her husband, who lived at this time in 
Eaton-lane, Pimlico, in the vicinity of Mr. Stikeman's 
residence. 

On Friday the 19th of April 1805, Mrs. Austin was 
admitted, a third time, into the Brownlow-street Hospi- 

: !! ■ ; C KB 



131 

tal, on the recommendation of Mr. Hoare, the banker, 
her friend on a former occasion. She was, on the 20th 
of the same month, delivered of another son, who was 
named Job. She left the Hospital three weeks after- 
wards ; — returned to Pimlico, and took in a child to wet 
nurse. Mrs. Austin continued at Pimlico about three 
years. 

About this period, the " Delicate Investigation" took 
place, and Mrs. Austin was brought forward for exami- 
nation. Her deposition will be found in Appendix 
(A), p. 124. 

During the time Mrs. Austin lived at Pimlico, she oc- 
casionally visited Blackheath, and was always permitted 
to see her child, for whom a regular nurse had been pro- 
vided, about nine or ten days after it had been, left with 
her Royal Highness. A Mrs. Go s den was engaged for 
the purpose, and continued, in this capacity, for about 
two years. 

As the subject of this memoir (William Austin) grew 
up, he was constantly taken about with the Princess ; and; 
was treated, in every respect, as a child of her own. Her 
Royal Highness, indeed, appeared to be very much at- 
tached to the boy. William was, at an early age, placed 
at a day-school, on Blackheath ; and when about nine 
years old, he was sent to a boarding-school at Greenwich^ 
kept by Dr. Burney. William, however, has been 
lately taken from this seminary, and placed at another 
school at Blackheath, where he still remains. 

For the last five or six years, Mrs. Austin has seen 
her Royal Highness but seldom, though she goes 
regularly, once a quarter, to visit her son, and to re- 
ceive a quarterly allowance for the education of a younger 
child, which is paid to her by Miss Sander; and, 
she has reason to believe, on her own account. 



is* 

In August 1808, Austin was appointed a per- 
manent Ivcker in the London Docks, a situation which 
her Royal Highness obtained for him, through the. in- 
terest of the late Mr. Perceval. This post he still 
retains, at a salary of about six guineas per month, when 
able to attend ; but in case of illness, his pay is reduced. 
And this frequently occurs, as he is much afflicted with 
the rheumatism. 

Such are the " short and simple annals" of these poor 
but industrious people, Samuel and Sophia Austin ; 
— such is the plain and unvarnished history of William 
Austin, their fortunate son; — and such is the State- 
ment of Facts relative to the conduct of her Royal 
Highness the Princess of Wales, and of her 
agents, — throughout the whole of this singular, and al- 
most unparalleled transaction. 

The evidence respecting William Austin, the 
child now under the protection of her Royal Highness, 
seems to be of the most conclusive nature. Scarcely a 
doubt can, indeed, exist on this subject. The testimo- 
ny of Mrs. Austin (connected with the various concur- 
ring circumstances detailed in this -statement) is, the 
writer conceives, entirely unimpeachable, and of such a 
nature, as for ever to set at rest the fears of Englishmen 
respecting the future succession to these kingdoms ; 
so far, at least, as it concerns the subject of the present 
narrative. 

As the name of William Austin will, most pro- 
bably, be transmitted to posterity, in connection with 
that of her Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales, the writer feels some degree of satisfaction in 
having collected (with no small labour) materials for a 
document, which may, perhaps, at seme future time, 



1SS 

•ccupy no unimportant place in the annals of English 
History. 

In the present state of the public mind, it would be 
improper to offer any farther comment upon this affair; 
— the writer, therefore, will leave it to every person to 
form his own opinion : — assuring the public* that he 
has fully enabled them to do so, by giving a succinct 
but, faithful statement of facts only, unaccompanied 
fey arguments or any remarks which should at all tend 
to bias their opinion on this subject. 

Finally, the writer delivers this statement to the public 
under the strongest conviction of its veracity — and in 
the fullest persuasion of its importance to the nation at 
large — to her Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales — to Mrs. Austin, the mother of the child now 
under the protection of her Royal Highness — and to 
William Austin, the subject of this short and, as the 
writer conceives, interesting memoir. 



FINIS 



printed bv R. Edwards, 
Crane-court. Fleet-street, London. 



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